NIGERIA JOINT RESPONSE

About the crisis

Nigeria has suffered greatly since the Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009. The outcome of the presence of Armed Opposition Groups in Northeast Nigeria and its encounters with government military responses has been one of devastating proportions. More than 27,000 people have been killed and the violations against and abduction of women and girls have been devastating.

The conflict has resulted in widespread population displacement. As of August 2019, nearly 2 million people were internally displaced, and another 240,000 people had sought refuge in neighboring countries. One in four of the internally displaced people are under five, and 80 percent are women and children. Half of the displaced persons in Borno are living outside IDP camps in local communities, who are themselves stricken by poverty making them also highly vulnerable to the situation. Humanitarian access remains challenging and therefore not possible to meet all needs in the north-east. Four Local Government Areas are totally inaccessible to aid workers, and the number of people out of reach increased by 31 percent compared with the beginning of 2019.

The population movements have had an overwhelming effect on social and economic stability in the northeast of Nigeria. In recently liberated areas, within refugee camps and among many host communities, there is a severe shortage of basic supplies such as clean water, food and means of livelihood. An estimated 7.7 million people in the most affected areas of northeast Nigeria are classified as requiring life saving humanitarian assistance, an 8% increase compared to 2019. An estimated 3 million people were food insecure as of September 2019, an increase from 2.7 million people since the last projections in October 2018.

The Dutch Relief Alliance Response

The Nigeria Joint Response sees five DRA member organisations and five local partners work together to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to the people affected by the crisis in northeast Nigeria. The collaboration will continue until the end of 2020 and will directly target more than 84,000 beneficiaries with humanitarian assistance. The action will see:

• 11,233 people will be provided with food vouchers or resources to rebuild their livelihoods.
• 12,500 children will be screened for malnutrition and 2,000 children will be treated for acute malnutrition.
• 52,695 people will benefit from the provision of clean water, functional sanitation facilities and awareness raising around good hygiene practices.
• More than 1400 people will benefit from the provision of primary and reproductive health care.
• 1,777 people will receive cash to meet their immediate needs.
• 16,595 people will benefit from protection measures including 6,4440 children who will be provided with recreational activities and where needed with psychosocial support.