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	Global military spending remains high at $1.7 trillion by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute   Total world military expenditure rose to $1739 billion in 2017, a marginal increase of 1.1 per cent in real terms from 2016, according to new figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). China's military expenditure rose again in 2017, continuing an upward trend in spending that has lasted for more than two decades. Russia's military spending fell for the first time since 1998, while spending by the United States remained constant for the second successive year.   'Continuing high world military expenditure is a cause for serious concern', said Ambassador Jan Eliasson, Chair of the SIPRI Governing Board. 'It undermines the search for peaceful solutions to conflicts around the world'.   After 13 consecutive years of increases from 1999 to 2011 and relatively unchanged spending from 2012 to 2016, total global military expenditure rose again in 2017. Military spending in 2017 represented 2.2 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) or $230 per person. 'The increases in world military expenditure in recent years have been largely due to the substantial growth in spending by countries in Asia and Oceania and the Middle East, such as China, India and Saudi Arabia', said Dr Nan Tian, Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure (AMEX) programme. 'At the global level, the weight of military spending is clearly shifting away from the Euro-Atlantic region'.   Military expenditure in Asia and Oceania rose for the 29th successive year. China, the second largest spender globally, increased its military spending by 5.6 per cent to $228 billion in 2017. China's spending as a share of world military expenditure has risen from 5.8 per cent in 2008 to 13 per cent in 2017. India spent $63.9 billion on its military in 2017, an increase of 5.5 per cent compared with 2016, while South Korea's spending, at $39.2 billion, rose by 1.7 per cent between 2016 and 2017. 'Tensions between China and many of its neighbours continue to drive the growth in military spending in Asia', said Siemon Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI AMEX programme.   At $66.3 billion, Russia's military spending in 2017 was 20 per cent lower than in 2016, the first annual decrease since 1998. 'Military modernization remains a priority in Russia, but the military budget has been restricted by economic problems that the country has experienced since 2014, said Siemon Wezeman.   Driven, in part, by the perception of a growing threat from Russia, military spending in both Central and Western Europe increased in 2017, by 12 and 1.7 per cent, respectively. Many European states are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and, within that framework, have agreed to increase their military spending. Total military spending by all 29 NATO members was $900 billion in 2017, accounting for 52 per cent of world spending.   Military expenditure in the Middle East rose by 6.2 per cent in 2017. Spending by Saudi Arabia increased by 9.2 per cent in 2017 following a fall in 2016. With spending of $69.4 billion, Saudi Arabia had the third highest military expenditure in the world in 2017. Iran (19 per cent) and Iraq (22 per cent) also recorded significant increases in military spending in 2017. 'Despite low oil prices, armed conflict and rivalries throughout the Middle East are driving the rise in military spending in the region', said Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI AMEX programme.   In 2017 military expenditure as a share of GDP (known as the 'military burden') was highest in the Middle East, at 5.2 per cent. No other region in the world allocated more than 1.8 per cent of GDP to military spending.   The United States continues to have the highest military expenditure in the world. In 2017 the USA spent more on its military than the next seven highest-spending countries combined. At $610 billion, US military spending was unchanged between 2016 and 2017. 'The downward trend in US military spending that started in 2010 has come to an end', said Dr Aude Fleurant, Director of the SIPRI AMEX programme. 'US military spending in 2018 is set to rise significantly to support increases in military personnel and the modernization of conventional and nuclear weapons'.   http://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2018/global-military-spending-remains-high-17-trillion http://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2018/global-arms-industry-us-companies-dominate-top-100-russian-arms-industry-moves-second-place Visit the related web page
	11 million people need urgent aid in Lake Chad region due to violence by OCHA, Action Against Hunger, MSF, Mercy Corps   Apr. 2019 (OCHA)   Humanitarian needs in Cameroon are at their highest level ever following an upsurge in violence and insecurity in several regions of the country. Around 4.3 million people need emergency assistance, marking a 30 per cent increase compared to 2018.   The violence and forced displacement have dramatically affected the lives of women and children. Gender based violence is on a sharp increase. In some regions up to 80% of children are out of school. Funding for the response is however at an all-time low.   In February, the Government and the humanitarian community launched the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan, requesting for US$299 million to assist 2.3 million people. As of 22 April, 11 per cent of the funds has been received.   Some 440,000 people have been forced from their homes in the violence-hit North-West and South-West regions, adding to the devastation by the protracted Lake Chad Basin conflict that continues to force civilians from neighbouring Nigeria to seek safety into Cameroon's Far North region. Cameroon also hosts 275,000 Central African Republic refugees in Adamaoua, East and North region. Cameroon. Cameroon today has the 6th largest displaced population in the world.   'The people of Cameroon deserve a chance. Communities hosting the displaced are sharing the little they have. Their generosity is exemplary', said UN Humanitarian Coordinator Allegra Baiocchi. 'We need to show them the same level of generosity. We need to show them that we care. Funding remains critically low and we simply cannot sustain our activities without donors support. It is time to close the funding gap'.   The violence-affected people are struggling to survive difficult conditions, with little food, shelter, water, healthcare or protection from violation and abuse. Aid organizations are striving to deliver assistance notwithstanding access restrictions and lack of funding.   Today, 3 million people are severely food insecurity in Cameroon, 1.5 million in North-West and South-West regions alone. Among them are 222,000 children. In Far North region, one in two people does not have enough to eat.   In 2018, 78,000 children under 5 years were treated for severe malnutrition. Malnutrition is likely to remain high this year or worsen if funding for prevention and treatment programmes is not forthcoming.   Since the beginning of the crisis in the North-West and South-West regions, local aid organizations have been at the forefront of the relief response, working hard to provide assistance to people forced to flee their homes.   Clashes, shut-down of activities in towns and insecurity have hampered operations in clinics and hospitals, and medical staff have been repeatedly targeted.   Tens of thousands of boys and girls are deprived of education due to schools closure. They are in many cases being exploited and abused, forced to work or recruited. Tens of thousands of people affected by the violence need protection from abuse and violations.   'Cameroon has not witnessed a humanitarian emergency at such a scale, and the causes of the different crises are but intensifying', said Ms. Baiocchi. 'While we may not be able to quickly alter the underlying drivers, we must shift our approach to be able to make a difference in the life of the girl who is missing school due to violence, the displaced mother struggling to feed her children, or the father who has lost all source of income and livelihood'. http://bit.ly/2GBWVD2   http://www.nrc.no/news/2019/april/cameroon-conflict-produces-mounting-humanitarian-needs/   Jan. 2019   UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria alarmed at massive civilian displacement caused by recent violence in north-east. (Reliefweb)   The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, has expressed grave concern following an upsurge in violence in the country's north-east that has caused tens of thousands of innocent civilians to flee their homes.   Clashes on 26 December 2018 between Nigerian government forces and non-state armed groups in Baga town, on the shores of Lake Chad about 200 kilometers north of state capital Maiduguri, triggered the massive displacement, with most women, men and children converging on already congested camps or sites for internally displaced people in Maiduguri or Monguno town. A subsequent attempted attack on Monguno on 28 December 2018 has exacerbated the situation, generating further displacement amid the uncertainty caused by the clashes.   'The impact of the recent fighting on innocent civilians is devastating and has created a humanitarian tragedy', said Mr. Kallon, after a visit to Monguno and to Teachers Village camp for internally displaced people in Maiduguri. 'It is heart-wrenching to see so many of these people living in congested camps, or sleeping outside with no shelter. Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict and the United Nations is extremely concerned about the impact that violence in north-east Nigeria, especially in Borno State, is having on civilians'.   More than 30,000 internally displaced people have arrived in Maiduguri, mainly from Baga, in recent weeks. The majority of these people have arrived since 20 December 2018, often after arduous journeys with young children. This includes an estimated 20,000 internally displaced people who have arrived in Teachers Village camp in Maiduguri, stretching the camp's capacity beyond the limit. It is still unclear how many people are taking refuge in Monguno, but tens of thousands of people are in need of humanitarian assistance, notably shelter, food, water and sanitation.   Some 260 aid workers have been withdrawn from three local government areas (Monguno, Kala/Balge and Kukawa) affected by the conflict since November, affecting the delivery of humanitarian assistance to hundreds of thousands of people. This is the largest withdrawal of aid workers since the international humanitarian response scaled up in 2016. While aid workers have started to return to some areas to respond to the urgent, life-saving needs, the lack of a secure operating environment is preventing a return to normal humanitarian activities. http://bit.ly/2CoQxeX   Nigeria: New Attacks in Borno force more than 50,000 to Flee - Action Against Hunger launches Rapid Response to help newly displaced in Monguno and Maiduguri.   On December 26, non-state armed groups attacked a military base in Baga, Northeast Nigeria, forcing as many as 40,000 people to flee to safety in Monguno and more than 25,000 to flee to Maiduguri. Action Against Hunger is on the ground in both towns helping the newly displaced.   Action Against Hunger has distributed kits of basic supplies to more than 800 families in Monguno. Our teams have also trained 135 community volunteers to carry out mass nutrition screenings of children. In the last two days, we have screened 53,362 children under five years old for malnutrition, diagnosing 11,391 cases of moderate acute malnutrition and 622 cases of severe acute malnutrition. Volunteers are sending those suffering from malnutrition for treatment at six health centers supported by Action Against Hunger.   'Today, we have 90 team members responding to health and nutrition needs, urgent water, sanitation and hygiene needs, but there is still so much that needs to be done', said Shashwat Saraf, Action Against Hunger Country Director in Nigeria, after a visit to Monguno. Shashwat met with the district head and many of the newly displaced people arriving from Baga, Doron Baga, Kukawa, and Cross Kuawa. Access to food, clean water, clothing and medicine remain key priority needs.   http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/story/nigeria-new-attacks-borno-force-more-50000-flee http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/stories http://www.msf.org/lake-chad-crisis   Sep. 2018   More than 800,000 people are cut off from aid and may be starving in northeast Nigeria.   European states warned the United Nations that more than 800,000 people are cut off from aid and may be starving in northeast Nigeria, contradicting government assertions that a crisis has abated and rebuking the world body for failing to secure access.   Nigeria's government has said this year that an emergency in the northeast caused by a decade-long conflict with Islamist fighters was easing, and efforts should shift from humanitarian relief to longer term development aid.   But in a letter to directors of emergency programmes at U.N. and other aid agencies, the EU, Britain, France and Germany said the United Nations was failing to press home the urgency of a disaster which had put children at risk of starvation.   "We are very concerned about urgent and unmet humanitarian and protection needs in North-East Nigeria," they wrote. The U.N. mission in Nigeria must push the government to allow "the rapid, unimpeded and unfettered humanitarian access to people in need of life-saving assistance."   The letter said 823,000 people were in areas inaccessible to aid in Nigeria's Borno state, the area worst affected by the decade-long insurgency by the Boko Haram Islamist group and its offshoot, Islamic State in West Africa.   Children who have left the area over the past 11 months had shown critical levels of malnutrition, said the letter, reviewed by Reuters.   The European countries, all major donors to the relief effort, called for "stronger, strategic and consistent advocacy with the Government of Nigeria to uphold their responsibility to protect and assist their citizens."   The letter was sent to directors of emergency programmes through a body called the U.N. Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC).   The IASC referred queries about the letter to the U.N. office in Nigeria. A spokeswoman there said on Monday she was preparing a response, but she had not provided one by Tuesday evening. Representatives of the Nigerian presidency did not respond to a request for comment.   Nigeria's call for a change in emphasis in the northeast away from emergency aid and towards long-term development assistance fits a narrative long expressed by President Muhammadu Buhari that the conflict is waning.   Buhari won election in 2015 on a vow to defeat Boko Haram and restore stability and security to the northeast, and is now seeking a second-term campaigning on his government's success in achieving it.   As part of that effort to portray the northeast as safer, thousands of people have been ordered back to dangerous areas that aid agencies say are inaccessible, and where the condition of hundreds of thousands of people is unknown.   A person familiar with the drafting of the letter said the countries that signed it were trying to express "a lack of confidence in U.N. leadership in Nigeria."   "People are nearing starvation and there is little help for those being returned to inaccessible areas. And the humanitarian situation is escalating not getting better."   Sep. 2018   11 million people need urgent aid in Lake Chad region   Eleven international organisations call for increased protection and support to civilians bearing the brunt of the conflict in the Lake Chad region, including parts of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.   The nine-year long conflict in the Lake Chad Basin has dramatically affected the lives of about 11 million people who rely on humanitarian assistance to survive. The insurgency as well as military operations across the four countries have displaced 2.4 million people and left 5 million people food insecure, while significantly reducing economic activity.   The conflict has taken a heavy toll on the local economies and people's livelihoods, and has also led to a high number of civilian casualties and grave abuses, such as the recruitment of children by armed groups, sexual violence and abductions. The security situation further impedes the humanitarian actors access to people in need of life-saving support. For instance, in northeast Nigeria, over 800,000 people still live in hard to reach areas with no access to humanitarian assistance, while military operations in the Lake Chad Islands currently prohibit organisations from providing assistance to the population.   'Last year's conference helped avert a famine in the region. This year's conference must not only continue this lifesaving operation, but must make protection of vulnerable children, women and men a top priority. Conflict-affected families depend on the international community to put the lives of civilians over and beyond competing political agendas, such as their war on terror', said Secretary General for the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland.   The humanitarian community scaled up the response significantly in 2017, but humanitarian needs remain massive and will continue well into 2018 and beyond. Yet, eight months into the year, only 26 per cent of the appeal for funding to Cameroon has been raised and the humanitarian appeal to support people affected by the crisis in Nigeria is less than half funded. The United Nations estimates that USD 1.6 billion is required this year to help the 10.7 million in need of humanitarian assistance in the region.   'The crisis in north-east Nigeria is far from being resolved. Thousands of desperate people continue to arrive into congested areas on a weekly basis both from inaccessible areas or across borders, some of them in a state of severe malnutrition. While development efforts to rebuild need to be stepped up, it is crucial that we maintain the necessary assistance to continue saving lives, particularly in remote field locations across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states', said Jennifer Jalovec, Director of the Nigeria INGO Forum, which consists of 40 organisations working in Nigeria.   'As the protection crisis in the Lake Chad region rages on for another year, children make up over half of those displaced. Women and girls face gender-based violence daily, are abducted, sexually exploited and abused, and struggling to survive early and forced marriage and intimate partner violence', says Hannah Gibbin, Country Director for the International Rescue Committee in Cameroon. She emphasises the need for participants at the conference to face the facts head-on and join forces to provide lives of dignity and security.   Hussaini Abdu, Plan International's Country Director in Nigeria, urges all humanitarian actors, including donors, to urgently increase prioritisation, funding and coordination of efforts to prevent and respond to ongoing gender-based violence and child protection needs and to fulfil adolescent girls sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).   The conference in Berlin will constitute another opportunity to shed light on a crisis that not only requires financial attention, but first and foremost, a political will from governmental actors at all levels to address the root causes of this conflict and ensure the lives and livelihoods of millions of women, men and children living in the Lake Chad Basin are protected.   * Report from Norwegian Refugee Council, Lutheran World Federation, CARE, Mercy Corps, Action Contre la Faim France, International Rescue Committee, International Medical Corps, Save the Children, Plan International, International Emergency and Development Aid: http://bit.ly/2LGE5tE http://lcb.unocha.org/   Apr. 2018   UN condemns attack on civilians in north-east Nigeria, by Yassine Gaba - UN Humanitarian Coordinator   Denouncing an attack on civilians in Nigeria's restive north-east region, a senior United Nations humanitarian official has called on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease hostilities and ensure the protection of civilians.   According to reports, at least 34 people were killed and over 90 injured in the attack that took place on 1 April near Belle Village, in the outskirts of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.   'Innocent civilians continue to suffer daily from direct and indiscriminate attacks in north-east Nigeria and endless numbers of explosions, brutal killings, abductions and lootings continue to uproot the lives of women, children and men daily', said Yassine Gaba, the acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator, in a news release on Monday.   'I call on all parties to the conflict to end this violence and to respect human life and dignity'.   The situation in north-east Nigeria has witnessed a steady deterioration over the past few weeks, particularly in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.   Since the beginning of the year, at least 120 women, children and men are reported to have been killed and over 210 seriously injured, in over 22 attacks allegedly carried out by non-state armed groups directly targeting civilians.   Of particular concern is the safety of women and girls, who remain at a constant threat of grave human rights abuses and gender-based violence as well as of abduction.   On 19 February, 110 school girls were abducted in an attack in Dapchi, Yobe state. In 2014, the region witnessed one of the worst such incidents in which over 270 girls were abducted from a government school in Chibok.   Violence and insecurity in the region has left close to 7.7 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance - especially food, shelter, water, healthcare and protection.   Since the start of the conflict in 2009, more than 20,000 people have been killed; thousands of girls, women, boys and men have been abducted; and children continue to be used routinely as so-called 'suicide' bombers.   http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/un-deputy-humanitarian-coordinator-nigeria-strongly-condemns-continued-targeting http://www.msf.org/en/article/nigeria-crisis-update-borno-and-yobe-states-june-2018
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