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	Widespread sexual violence still a devastating reality in too many conflicts by UN News, UN Women, agencies   Apr. 2019   UN adopts resolution on rape in conflicts. (DW)   The UN Security Council on Tuesday adopted a watered-down, German-drafted resolution on sexual violence in conflicts, after last-minute amendments were added to appease the United States.   The United States had threatened a veto due to references to "sexual and reproductive health care" for survivors of rape and abuse in wartime, saying the wording amounted to support for abortion.   The vote passed 13-0, with veto-wielding permanent members Russia and China abstaining, after Germany was forced to bow to the US pressure and remove the text on sexual and reproductive health.   Despite the weakened text, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the resolution would facilitate the punishment of perpetrators of sexual violence, including applying sanctions, and supporting victims. Maas said that the resolution brought victims to the center of attention.   "The resolution calls on all UN member states to support victims through better access to justice, medical and psychological assistance and reintegration into society," he said.   The resolution also draws attention to victims of sexual violence who have too often been ignored, he said, including men, boys, mothers and children.   The US position drew criticism from other Security Council members, with France''s Ambassador Francois Delattre saying he was "appalled" by the US demand.   It is "inexplicable that access to sexual and reproductive health is not explicitly recognized for victims of sexual violence, who are often the targets of atrocious acts of violence and barbaric mutilation," he told the 15-member body.   The resolution expressed concern at "the slow progress" in addressing sexual abuse in conflicts, which occur with impunity "and in some situations have become systematic and widespread, reaching appalling levels of brutality."   It also urges providing justice for victims, but under pressure from the United States references to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in prosecuting suspected perpetrators of sexual violence were eliminated. The United States is not a member of the ICC out of concern for the sovereignty of US courts and the prospect of war crimes cases being opened against US soldiers and officials. http://bit.ly/2PtAXoA   http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/05/women-peace-security-lets-turn-words-action/   Apr. 2019   UN Security Council should stand in solidarity with survivors of rape in conflict, by Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad.   The honor bestowed on us by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in late 2018, when we jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize, comes with tremendous responsibility. We believe it is our duty to bring forward the voices of survivors of sexual violence in conflict, their families and communities and advocate for more comprehensive and impactful approaches to prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence – particularly to those who have the means to strengthen prevention. This includes the United Nations Security Council as the preeminent institution for maintaining international peace and security.   This Tuesday we have the opportunity of addressing the UN Security Council in person as part of its annual Open Debate on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in New York. We commend Germany’s initiative to introduce a new Security Council resolution during its Presidency which, importantly, recognizes the need for survivor centric approaches.   We recognize this is a critical and historical moment in terms of how the crime of sexual violence is used as a weapon of war, the role terrorism plays, and how both are addressed. We are pleased that unprecedented attention regarding the plight of survivors and their needs are being considered. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that the international community is failing to prevent these mass atrocities from occurring.   The UN Secretary-General recently published his 10th report on Conflict Related Sexual Violence. The report highlights 19 countries, where the detrimental and lasting impact of prolonged sexual violence continues to devastate victims and impede peace and prosperity. It puts forth several critical recommendations – ones consistently made by survivors in our own countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iraq, as well as in many of other countries we have visited.   We support the recommendations set forth and would like to highlight critical elements of great importance to survivors – holistic support and justice and accountability.   Survivors not only need, but should be entitled to, comprehensive support for life-saving medical and psycho-social services as well as access to livelihoods, education and legal counsel. Survivors are also entitled to justice for the harms inflicted upon them and perpetrators should be held accountable for their crimes. Ending impunity for sexual violence is essential and will deter and prevent future such violations.   Prosecuting perpetrators of mass atrocities is crucial, but mechanisms for reparations for victims are equally as important. Providing reparations to victims of sexual violence is a moral imperative that needs to be recognized globally by our collective conscience.   Reparations would also serve to help ensure non-repetition; and survivors see ending impunity for sexual violence as essential to deterring and preventing such violations. Those who commit sexual violence cannot be allowed to do so without consequence.   Together, we join our voices with that of the UN Secretary-General to urge the Security Council to strengthen its follow-up on the compliance of parties to conflict. The lack of such regular review is a gap that exists in the accountability system – and one which allows harms to be inflicted. The unacceptable reality is that the majority of the parties listed by the Secretary-General have completely ignored the demands of the Security Council for the past decade to immediately cease violations. Without the will of the international community and imposed consequences, crimes will continue to be perpetrated.   We hope that an agreed resolution this week will finally mean that these remedies and mechanisms, which have been urgently needed for so long, can be put in place.   We urge all members of the Security Council to stand in solidarity with survivors and civil society groups on the frontlines of conflicts by adopting a strong, bold and meaningful agreement. There is simply no excuse for continuing to fail those who have already been victimized - as well as those who continue to be at risk of - devastating levels of sexual violence in conflict.   * Dr. Denis Mukwege is Nobel Peace laureate and the founder of Panzi Hospital and Foundation. Nadia Murad is Nobel Peace laureate and president of Nadia’s Initiative.   http://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/statement/statement-of-pramila-patten-special-representative-of-the-secretary-general-on-sexual-violence-in-conflict-security-council-open-debate-23-april-2019/ http://news.un.org/en/story/2019/04/1037151 http://www.peacewomen.org/security-council/security-council-open-debate-sexual-violence-conflict-april-2019 http://www.passblue.com/2019/04/23/at-the-un-the-us-darkens-womens-right-to-abortion/ http://www.justsecurity.org/63750/gutting-the-substance-of-a-security-council-resolution-on-sexual-violence/ http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/apr/23/un-resolution-passes-trump-us-veto-threat-abortion-language-removed http://www.undispatch.com/at-the-un-the-trump-administration-seeks-to-roll-back-access-to-sexual-and-reproductive-health-care-for-victims-of-sexual-violence-in-conflict/   Apr. 20, 2019   Will the US Stand With Victims of Rape in War, asks Noor Sheikh. (Pass Blue, agencies)   The annual debate on sexual violence in conflict is about to take place in the United Nations Security Council. As the UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, has said, this event — on April 23 — presents a critical opportunity to assess progress in the last 10 years, since the mandate to end sexual violence in conflict and uplift survivors was established by the Security Council.   Unfortunately, it is all too clear that we may be regressing in crucial respects on the mandate’s goal. Credible sources indicate that the United States, as a permanent member of the Council, has threatened to veto the German-led draft resolution emanating from the debate if it includes any references to sexual and reproductive health, particularly this proposed wording: “comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care such as access to emergency contraception, safe termination of pregnancy and HIV prevention and treatment.”   It appears that the fallback language the Germans are counterproposing in negotiations this weekend, to ward off a US veto, will be drawn from a previous Security Council resolution. That says, in part, that it “urges United Nations entities and donors to provide non-discriminatory and comprehensive health services, including sexual and reproductive health, psychosocial, legal, and livelihood support and other multi-sectoral services for survivors of sexual violence..”   Yet the US will not support a resolution with that wording either, say sources.   The US is also trying to ban language in the Council resolution regarding the International Criminal Court’s role in prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict.   Support for the German resolution in the Council is strong, particularly among the French, Belgians and South Africans. They hope that the resolution with the original reference to “comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care” will be voted on despite the threat of an American veto. They may also compromise on the alternative version. China and Russia, two other permanent members, have also drafted their own resolution on sexual violence in conflict.   That resolution, sources say, makes no mention of sexual and reproductive health care for victims of sexual violence but instead focuses heavily on prevention of such abuses and national prosecution of such crimes.   Yet it “recognizes” that “women and girls who become pregnant as a result of sexual violence in conflict, including those who become mothers, may have different and additional needs.” These victims should be classified as terrorist victims, it says, making them eligible for “health care” and other services.   The possible services that the US would be vetoing in the German-led resolution are listed in the recommendations of the report from the UN secretary-general on conflict-related sexual violence published in March. Specifically, Secretary-General António Guterres recommends strengthening services for the survivors of sexual violence by ensuring comprehensive sexual and reproductive care. That would include access to emergency contraception, safe termination of pregnancy and HIV prevention.   The possibility that the US could veto the resolution is all the more shocking when you consider the contexts described in the report — widespread and systematic gang rapes of Rohingya women and girls in Burma; institutionalized sexual slavery of Yazidi and other minority communities by ISIS in Syria and Iraq; and the rape of young girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan by state armed forces and militia groups alike.   Guterres stresses that pregnancies are a devastating reality that accompany these heinous crimes, making it all the more urgent to ensure sexual and reproductive health services.   If the US vetos the resolution on the basis of denying victims of sexual violence their sexual and reproductive health care, it will violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it is a party. The UN Human Rights Committee has noted in the context of Article 7 of the covenant, which prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the importance of giving women who have been raped access to emergency contraception and safe abortion.   Any country denying abortion to women who have become pregnant after rape would be subjecting them to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. By forcing victims of rape to carry the pregnancy caused by their sexual abuse, the US will also be directly contributing to more suffering of countless victims of such violence.   The importance of providing sexual and reproductive health care for victims of rape cannot be overemphasized. Every year, nearly 70,000 women die from unsafe abortions.   Additionally, many victims of rape try to kill themselves when they are denied reproductive care. The burden of a pregnancy resulting from rape is taking the lives of women around the world. And the position of the US will reveal whether the Trump administration prefers that women die from suicide and unsafe abortions rather than provide access to reproductive and sexual health care.   As a young woman and as an American citizen, I am ashamed that my country would undermine the sexual and reproductive health care needs of women who have been subjected to sexual violence.   In 2019, girls and women like Lucia from Argentina are still forced to keep life-threatening pregnancies due to rape. Lucia was only 11 years old when she was impregnated by a 65-year old man who was living in her household. Despite attempting to take her own life many times, Lucia was still denied access to a safe abortion and was forced to give birth at age 11.   On April 23, the US will decide whether our country will stand by survivors like Lucia or turn a blind eye toward the suffering of victims of rape.   http://www.passblue.com/2019/04/20/will-the-us-stand-with-victims-of-rape-in-war-2/ http://www.dw.com/en/angelina-jolie-and-germanys-maas-demand-action-on-sexual-violence/a-48439306 http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/04/22/sexual-violence-is-rife-war-zones-we-must-take-action/ http://globaljusticecenter.net/press-center/events/1030-accountability-for-conflict-related-sexual-violence-as-a-central-pillar-for-prevention-arria-formula-meeting-of-the-un-security-council http://bit.ly/2DuVfsU http://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/ http://www.stoprapenow.org/   May 2017 (UN News)   Survivors of sexual violence in war zones need to be recognized as legitimate victims of conflict and terrorism, and not blamed, stigmatized or shamed, the United Nations has said in an annual report to be presented to the Security Council.   “Shame and stigma are integral to the logic of sexual violence being employed as a tactic of war or terrorism: aggressors understand that this type of crime can turn victims into outcasts, thus unravelling the family and kinship ties that hold communities together,” according to the latest report of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence, which is prepared by the Office of the UN Special Representative on the issue.   The report calls on traditional, religious and community leaders to address harmful social norms and help to redirect the stigma of rape from the victims to the perpetrators. If not, the victims may face lethal retaliation, “honour” crimes, suicide, untreated diseases, unsafe abortion, economic exclusion and indigence.   Of particular concern in the report are children born of rape, which “may themselves face a lifetime of marginalization, owing to stigma and uncertain legal status.”   “Unless those who have suffered sexual violence and the children born of rape are reintegrated into their societies and economies, they will remain susceptible to exploitation and recruitment,” the report cautions.   The report calls for national legal and policy frameworks to ensure that survivors of conflict-related sexual violence can benefit from reparations and redress, and have access to urgent support and services, such as sexual and reproductive health care “including measures for the safe termination of unwanted pregnancies.”   Protection from sexual violence and access to sexual and reproductive health care was also pledged at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit last May.   The annual report reviews 13 conflict settings, four post-conflict countries and two additional situations of concern. It also lists government and non-government actors who are credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence.   * Access the report: http://bit.ly/2p05DDA   Nov. 2016   Rape as an Act of Genocide: From Rwanda to Iraq, by Lindah Mogeni. (Inter Press Service)   The governments of Rwanda and Iraq have agreed to work together to fight rape as a weapon of genocide, noting disturbing similarities between sexual violence in Iraq today to the Rwandan genocide twenty years ago.   Just as targeted rape was a tool of the Rwandan genocide, an estimated 3000 Iraqi Yazidis under ISIL’s captivity are currently facing acts of genocide and targeted sexual violence, including sexual slavery.   Given Rwanda’s experience with sexual violence during the Rwandan genocide, Iraq’s permanent mission to the UN has signed a joint communique, an official statement establishing a relationship, with Rwanda’s permanent mission to the UN.   The joint effort will be aimed at sharing action plans to rehabilitate women victims and reintegrate them into their communities.   Rwanda was the first country where rape was recognised as a weapon of genocide by an international court. This court case was the subject of a documentary, The Uncondemned, which recently premiered at the UN.   The documentary is centred around the case of Jean Paul Akayesu, the mayor of Taba in Rwanda between April 1993 and June 1994, who was brought before the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda (ICTR).   Akayesu was found guilty of nine counts of genocide and crimes against humanity, including the landmark conviction of rape as an act of genocide, in 1998.   Prior to the film screening, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Bangura, described the importance of recognising rape as an act of genocide.   Bangura paid tribute to the Rwandan women who testified in the Akayesu trial as well as two Iraqi Yazidi women, one of whom is an ISIL rape survivor, present at the screening, and praised them for “giving other women the confidence to emerge from the shadows.”   A report to the UN human rights council has found that ISIL – also known as ISIS – has committed the crime of genocide against the Yazidis, an ethnically Kurdish religious group.   “The film demonstrates that only when survivors and civil society come together and join forces with investigators, prosecutors and policy makers, that justice can be delivered in its fullest sense,” said Bangura.   “The silver lining in these encounters is the exceptional courage and resilience of the rape victims to overcome their traumatic experience…they defied traditions and taboos by standing and speaking up, despite the fear of stigma and rejection or retribution from perpetrators,” said Jeanne D’arc Byaje, the Charge d’Affaires to the Permanent Mission of Rwanda to the UN.   Thousands of people were targeted with sexual violence during the Rwandan genocide, said the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng.   According to Byaje, in a span of 22 years since the genocide, Rwanda has “been able to reverse the deplorable situation by eliminating gender-based abuse and violence to increase the capacity of women and girls to protect themselves.”   Byaje called for “an international community that is a partner and not a bystander…and that is willing to work towards long-term efforts to promote unity and reconciliation.”   Iraq’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Mohamed Ali Ahakim, similarly appealed to the international community for help with the dire situation faced by Yazidi, as well as other minorities, women and children currently under ISIL”s captivity.   “Young women and children have been specifically targeted by ISIL and are being systematically sold in slave markets sometimes for a dollar or a pack of cigarettes…this is a tragedy that has not been experienced before in any of Iraq’s diverse communities,” said Ahakim.   However, Ahakim said that the problem is not confined to the current situation – “The main problem is what we are going to do next once we liberate Iraq and free the young women and children…I don’t have the ability to comprehend the difficulties that will be faced trying to infuse normality into these communities,” said Ahakim.   From the testimonies given at the UN, justice is the most crucial component of any next-step action plans for survivors.   “I decided to shame the act, I decided to put it out there, I wanted the truth to be known, but most importantly I wanted justice…what happened to us was horrible but we are still here…and that is because of justice” said one Rwandan witness, known as “Witness JJ”.   Yazidi rape survivor of ISIL, 18 year old Lea Le, who escaped her captors by tying scarves together and using them to climb out of a window along with some friends, said that “we should not hide what happened, it is very important for justice to be carried out…it is unfair that survivors have to wait so long for justice.”   Asked about the impact of the Akayesu case on other war crimes trials, Ambassador Pierre R. Prosper, the lead prosecutor during the Akayesu trial, admitted that there have been some subsequent prosecutions as result of the international precedent set by Akayesu’s case.   However, “we have lost the momentum, the political will to deal with the issue of not just rape but other genocide atrocities in general…we are waving the flag of saying this is wrong but we are not acting,” said Prosper.   Prosper called for governments to direct resources to relevant entities to pursue accountability and ensure justice.   http://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/our-work/recommendations/   August 2016   UN report details testimony of Yezidi survivors of ISIL atrocities in Iraq   A UN report released Thursday details the heart-wrenching testimony of Yezidi survivors of ISIL atrocities in Iraq since the attack on Sinjar in August 2014, including accounts of systematic and widespread killings, sexual violence and sexual slavery, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, forced conversions and forced displacement among other abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law.   The report, compiled by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), contains accounts of those who were among the 308,315 mostly Yezidis who fled Sinjar District in 2014. An estimated 360,000 Yezidi remain displaced, with a serious lack of badly needed psychological care.   Women interviewed by the UN spoke of being sold multiple times and having their young children and babies snatched from them. One woman told how she was sold to a 26-year-old Syrian ISIL member who raped her regularly for at least 15 days, threatening to kill her daughters if she did not submit. Another woman was bought and sold to six successive men. She managed to rescue her seven-year-old daughter from the clutches of a man who tried to abduct her, and tried to keep her safe by cutting off her hair and eyelashes, putting the child in a diaper and telling her to pretend to be mentally ill. However, in spite of this, an ISIL member tried to rape her daughter, driving the woman to attempt to kill her daughter and herself in despair. She eventually escaped with the help of a smuggler.   The report contains many accounts of men being separated from women, and of the mass killings of the captured men. In one instance, up to 600 men were reportedly killed in Tel Afar District. In other instances, members of the Yezidi community were forced to convert to Islam or be killed.   Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Ján Kubiš, said the report laid bare the widespread and systematic manner in which ISIL has committed terrible atrocities against the Yezidi and other ethnic and religious communities. The report notes that approximately 3,500 women, girls and some men, predominantly from the Yezidi community but also a number of other ethnic and religious communities, remain in ISIL captivity.   “Two years after the fall of Ninewa, the Yezidi community continues to be targeted by ISIL. Thousands of men, women and children have been killed or are missing, or remain in captivity where they are subjected to unspeakable sexual and physical abuse,” Kubiš said.   “Faced with such evidence, it is of paramount importance that the perpetrators of these heinous acts are fully and properly held to account,” he added.   UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said the testimony recorded in the report must serve as a clarion call to all members of the international community that “no effort must be spared in ensuring accountability for these terrible crimes and to send a clear message that no one may perpetrate them with impunity.”   “I am profoundly concerned at the grave impact that the current conflict is having on civilians, particularly on people from Iraq’s ancient and diverse ethnic and religious communities. The experiences recounted by survivors and documented in this report reveal acts of inhumanity and cruelty on an unimaginable scale that constitute a serious and deliberate attack on the most fundamental human rights and are an affront to humanity as a whole,” High Commissioner Zeid said.   The report states that the violations and abuses committed by ISIL may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.   “Every effort must be undertaken by the Government of Iraq and the international community, in strict compliance with applicable international humanitarian law and human rights law, to put an end to the human rights abuses being perpetrated by ISIL and to secure the safe release of these civilians,” the report states.   “Psycho-social, medical and other forms of support are urgently required, notably for the survivors of sexual violence and sexual slavery. Furthermore, everything feasible must be done to create safe, dignified conditions for the Yezidi, along with IDPs from other communities, to return to their places of origin.” http://bit.ly/2bl4QVG   June 2016   Marking the first International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon highlighted a number of recent rulings against political and military leaders.   In February, a national court in Guatemala convicted two former military officers of committing sexual violence during the country''s civil war – the first time that a national court anywhere in the world considered charges of sexual slavery during armed conflict.   Women''s organizations worked for years with indigenous women to develop their case, which was presented in the court by Guatemala''s female Attorney General before a female presiding judge.   In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) handed down its first conviction for sexual and gender-based crimes.   An all-female panel of three judges presided over the case against former Congolese Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, who was brought to justice by a female prosecutor, thanks to unprecedented levels of participation of women victims and witnesses from the Central African Republic.   In May, the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal convicted the former president of Chad, Hissène Habré, for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including rape and sexual slavery. This was the first universal jurisdiction case to make it to trial in Africa, and the first time a former Head of State was held personally accountable for committing rape as an international crime.   This conviction would not have been possible without the testimonies of women and the inspiring determination of lawyers, victims advocates, human rights defenders, and local and international civil society organizations.   All of these were long overdue and all had one thing in common: the unstoppable force of women''s voice and leadership, said UN Women, an agency tasked with promoting gender equality.   “With widespread sexual violence still a devastating reality in too many conflicts in the world, it is heartening to see that steps are being taken towards securing accountability for these acts, and that women are persevering with strength and unity in not letting these crimes go unspoken or unpunished,” said a statement released by UN Women.   Mr. Ban said that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da''esh), Boko Haram and other extremist groups are using sexual violence as a means of attracting and retaining fighters, and to generate revenue.   The abduction of more than 200 girls from Chibok in Nigeria, and the continued tragedy of women and girls subjected to forced marriage or sexual slavery by extremist groups in the Middle East, are two of the most horrific examples of the use of sexual violence as a tactic of terrorism, Mr. Ban said, calling for the immediate release of all those taken captive, and for the care and support of those who return.   Sexual violence is now widely recognized as a deliberate strategy used to shred the fabric of society; to control and intimidate communities and to force people from their homes. It is rightly seen as a threat to international peace and security, a serious violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, and a major impediment to post-conflict reconciliation and economic development, he said.   On 19 June 2015, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 19 June of each year the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, in order to raise awareness of the need to put an end to conflict-related sexual violence, to honour the victims and survivors of sexual violence around the world and to pay tribute to all those who have courageously devoted their lives to and lost their lives in standing up for the eradication of these crimes.   http://www.un.org/en/events/elimination-of-sexual-violence-in-conflict/background.shtml http://bit.ly/1V9z0ai http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/6/statement-for--international-day-for-the-elimination-of-sexual-violence-in-conflict Visit the related web page
	Starving to death: Boko Haram displaced facing food crisis by Reliefweb, AFP, ICRC, agencies Nigeria   “The violent conflict in northeast Nigeria has left children severely malnourished and at risk of death.   “In the three worst-affected states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, farming has been disrupted and crops destroyed, food reserves depleted and often pillaged, and livestock killed or abandoned.   “In Borno, where the fighting has been most brutal, 75 per cent of the water and sanitation infrastructure and 30 per cent of all health facilities have been either destroyed, looted or damaged.   “The impact on children is devastating. We estimate that 400,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the next year in the three affected states. If they do not receive the treatment they need, 1 in 5 of these children will die. Cases of diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia are on the rise, further endangering children’s lives''.   “These figures represent only a fraction of the suffering. Large areas of Borno state are completely inaccessible to any kind of humanitarian assistance. We are extremely concerned about the children trapped in these areas.''   “We are making a difference in the areas we can reach. With the World Food Programme and other partners, we are treating acutely malnourished children. We are vaccinating children against measles and polio. We are providing safe water and sanitation services. But this is nowhere close to enough.   Without adequate resources and without safe access, we and our partners will be unable to reach children whose lives are at imminent risk. What is already a crisis can become a catastrophe.” http://uni.cf/2gX3fFL   http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/unicef-more-doubles-its-funding-appeal-provide-life-saving-assistance-children http://unocha.exposure.co/when-conflicts-starve-children http://bit.ly/2gemMn4 http://www.savethechildren.net/article/two-hundred-children-could-die-every-day-north-east-nigeria-hunger-crisis http://www.unocha.org/nigeria   December 2016   With the scale of human suffering in north-eastern Nigeria becoming clearer as the Government has pushed Boko Haram insurgents from more and more areas, the United Nations has launched a $1 billion funding appeal to address the needs of those in crisis, and announced that nearly 75 partner agencies are on standby to respond where areas are accessible.   “This is the largest crisis on the African continent and I am confident that with the support of the international community and the private sector, we can begin to bring hope to the people,” stressed Peter Lundberg, the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator.   “The narrative on this humanitarian crisis can no longer be ignored and we are appealing to the international community to help us prevent the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians over the coming 12 months,” stated Mr. Lundberg.   The Humanitarian Response Plan will address the needs of almost 7 million people, in dire need of nutrition, food, shelter, health, education, protection and the water and sanitation needs of a very vulnerable population. A projected 5.1 million people will face serious food shortages as the conflict has prevented farmers planting for a third year in a row, causing a major food crisis.   Oct 2016   Lake Chad: ICRC president calls for world to urgently address “vast human tragedy” (ICRC)   The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer, recently completed a mission to Niger. With life-saving aid not reaching hundreds of thousands of people across the Lake Chad region, Mr Maurer called for more sustained and long-term international efforts to address the massive needs in the four countries affected.   In Niger''s Diffa region, Mr Maurer visited Garin Wanzam, a village whose population of 1,500 multiplied by 20 in the space of just 72 hours in June, as it became a refuge for people desperately fleeing the fighting nearby. It now hosts 30,000 displaced people, who are dependent on humanitarian aid and still fearful of returning home. With only one well providing water for the whole village, Garin Wanzam was unable to cope with such an unexpected influx of people and needs ongoing emergency support.   "I have been deeply moved this week by the people I''ve met. So many lives have been torn apart. The village of Garin Wanzam is just one example of the vast human tragedy playing out across the entire Lake Chad region, where over 2.6 million people have been driven from their homes and more than 7 million are caught up in a daily struggle to put food on the table," said Mr Maurer.   The ICRC president called for all parties involved in the regional conflict to protect and respect civilians, detainees and the wounded, as per their obligations under International Humanitarian Law.   "The sheer scale of the suffering here is unimaginable. War has rained chaos on millions of lives: separating families, destroying access to food, water, education, shelter, health care."   "To turn around the lives of millions of people in the Lake Chad region, we need to see greater commitment and concerted engagement from political leaders and the development community. Governments in the region need enhanced international support," said Mr Maurer.   The ICRC conducts substantial humanitarian activities throughout the Lake Chad region. Over the first half of this year, the organization delivered food to over 500,000 displaced people.   http://www.icrc.org/en/where-we-work/africa/lake-chad   Child Malnutrition rates in Nigeria “horrifying”, writes Eromo Egbejule. (IRIN News)   The world may have finally woken up to the child hunger emergency in northeastern Nigeria, but the latest data shows, if anything, a deepening crisis.   Levels of Global Acute Malnutrition recorded in July and August were well over the 15 percent threshold deemed “critical”, and, in some cases, higher than 50 percent, meaning more than half the children surveyed suffered from moderate or severe acute malnutrition.   In a special report on the “possibly deteriorating” situation in the states of Borno and Yobe, FEWS NET, a network set up by USAID to provide early warning on famine and food insecurity, said surveys and screenings indicated GAM rates “ranging from 20 to nearly 60 percent”.   “This level of acute malnutrition reflects an ‘Extreme Critical’ situation… and is associated with a significantly increased risk of child mortality,” it said. “Conditions may be even worse in areas that remain inaccessible.”   UNICEF helped to draw attention to the unfolding crisis in northeastern Nigeria in July, highlighting the fact that an estimated 244,000 children faced severe malnourishment in Borno State alone and warning that an estimated 49,000 – one in five – would die if they didn’t receive treatment.   Elizabeth Wright, head of communications for Action Contre La Faim (Action Against Hunger), which conducted several of the nutrition surveys, said the situation – not in northeastern Nigeria alone, but also in Yemen, South Sudan, and Central African Republic – represented the worst humanitarian crisis and suffering since World War II.   “We are seeing a horrifying prevalence of malnutrition that far exceeds emergency thresholds, and people are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity,” she told IRIN by email.   The latest red flag from FEWS NET draws particular attention to places like Banki Town and Bama in Borno State, where the threat of Boko Haram violence continues to limit movement and prevent humanitarian access.   Not long ago a busy farming hub and commercial centre home to 270,000 people, Bama is a ghost town. One of the places worst hit by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, the streets are deserted, the houses on them have no roofs, and there is literally no sign of life.   A former government hospital has been converted into a camp and now holds more than 25,000 internally displaced people, mostly from neighbouring towns and villages, with some coming in from as far as Adamawa State and towns along the border with Cameroon.   In the wake of the UNICEF campaign, the crisis here enjoyed a brief spell in the international media spotlight.   But most people here, especially the displaced, regard the town as neither fully safe nor ready for reoccupation, and they fear going back to villages even more likely to be attacked.   In Gwoza, like in Bama, returnees are scared because there is no guarantee of safety as they seek to rebuild their homes or start planting again.   “Those who have the courage to go back are forced to start farming along the road and send their cows into the farming areas deep in [Boko Haram territory]”.   Wright said the information they had for outlying areas, was incomplete. “The humanitarian community does not have adequate, reliable, statistically representative data on nutrition status for many of the newly liberated and inaccessible areas of Borno. Severe access constraints have prevented humanitarian actors from reaching populations in need,” she told IRIN.   “It is vital that humanitarian actors are able to conduct technically sound nutrition assessments in newly accessible areas of Borno to quantify the scale and severity of needs and to guide the most appropriate, effective humanitarian response.”   Wright pointed out that much of the latest data was based on Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) screenings of children under five, which can give you a good reading of the trend but aren’t as technically sound for showing malnutrition prevalence as fuller nutritional assessments.   Wright said 50 percent levels of GAM were very unusual and similar to what was seen during the 2011 crisis in Somalia when the scale and severity of hunger led to a declaration of famine by experts and the UN.   One of the few other places where similar levels of GAM are currently being seen is South Sudan, but Wright described an even more urgent situation currently in northeastern Nigeria.   “In Monguno in north Borno State, where we have launched new emergency programmes, in only four days we admitted 120 children under five for treatment for severe acute malnutrition,” she said.   July 2016   A quarter of a million children in Borno state, north-eastern Nigeria, are suffering from severe malnutrition, the United Nations children’s agency today announced. Of those, about one in five will die if they do not receive treatment.   The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that as Boko Haram is pushed out and more of the north-east area is becoming accessible to humanitarian assistance, the extent of the nutrition crisis is becoming more apparent.   “Some 134 children on average will die every day from causes linked to acute malnutrition if the response is not scaled up quickly,” said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Regional Director for Western and Central Africa, who just returned from a visit to Borno state.   “We need donors to step forward to prevent any more children from dying. No one can take on a crisis of this scale alone.”   Mr. Fontaine described ruins of towns accommodating displaced people, families with little access to adequate sanitation, water or food, and thousands of frail children in desperate need of help.   “There are 2 million people we are still not able to reach in Borno state, which means that the true scope of this crisis has yet to be revealed to the world,” he stressed.   Around 3.8 million people are currently facing severe food insecurity across the Lake Chad Basin, where the lean season has now set in in many parts.   In early 2016, UNICEF appealed for $55.5 million to respond to the humanitarian crisis in north-east Nigeria, but has so far only received $23 million, the equivalent of 41 per cent.   June 2016   At least 10 people are "starving to death" every day in a camp in northeast Nigeria for people displaced by Boko Haram violence, highlighting warnings about a food crisis in the Lake Chad region.   A civilian vigilante and a soldier said the deaths were occurring in the town of Banki where they are based, some 130 kilometres (80 miles) southeast of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.   Troops liberated the remote town near the Cameroon border last September.   "People are dying in large numbers in the camp every day from lack of food," the vigilante, who asked not to be identified because of his job assisting the military, told AFP Thursday.   "They are starving to death on a daily basis''.   "As of yesterday we counted 376 graves in the Bulachira cemetery belonging to dead IDPs who died in the last three months."   The soldier, who has been in Banki since the liberation and also asked to remain anonymous, gave a similar account: "At least 10 people are buried every day in the cemetery. The whole camp is hunger-stricken. People are emaciated and starving to death. If nobody intervenes, a huge catastrophe is looming because these people can''t hold out."   The Borno state government and aid agencies have warned about acute food shortages in the Lake Chad region as a result of seven years of violence.   The United Nations said in May that 9.2 million people living around the lake, which forms the border of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, were in desperate need of food.   One Nigerian refugee in a camp in southeastern Niger told AFP last month: "I think that everyone has abandoned us." Another said it had been four months since they last received food aid.   Even at the giant Dalori camp outside Maiduguri, which houses about 20,000 people, IDPs complain there is not enough to eat and children especially are always hungry.   The camp has been locked down since a suicide blast outside in January, forcing residents to rely on twice daily bowls of cooked rice and beans.   "The food ration given to all the occupants of a room is so little that it can be consumed by this boy," Aisha Bala, 35, told AFP last month, pointing to a six-year-old next to her.   "We force ourselves to eat the food despite its bad taste so as not to die from starvation," added Babagana Mustafa, 46.   Ahmed Satomi, executive secretary of the Borno state emergency management agency, said there were some 10,000 IDPs in Banki and "relief items" were delivered two weeks ago.   But the vigilante disputed the claim, saying the IDPs received nothing from the state and only UNICEF provided them with water containers and sanitary items in April.   Satomi said they were "preparing to procure maize and rice that will last them (the IDPs) for the next 40 days" but said priority was being given to Bama, 60 kilometres away.   There were more IDPs in Bama and Maiduguri was its only supply route, whereas "Banki can access supplies from neighbouring Amchide in Cameroon", he added.   Boko Haram Islamist insurgency is one of the world''s most brutal conflicts: at least 20,000 people have been killed since it began in 2009 and more than 2.6 million others displaced.   Nigeria''s government has been encouraging IDPs to return home since the recapture of swathes of territory lost to the Islamist militants in 2014.   But most are still largely reliant on food hand-outs, with farmlands devastated, and homes and local infrastructure destroyed.   Nearly 6,500 children were found to be severely malnourished at camps in Borno state last year; more than 25,000 others had "mild to moderate symptoms", health officials said in February.   The vigilante and the soldier said troops had been giving two-thirds of their rations to the IDPs, who also lacked access to medical facilities and even basic medicine such as paracetamol.   "People have no food, they are just walking corpses," he said by telephone, adding he was watching another funeral procession as he spoke. Without the soldiers rations "only a few would have been alive by now", he added.   The soldier called for urgent action, adding: "These people fled their homes to escape death in the hands of Boko Haram terrorists but they are now slowly dying from starvation."   http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/under-secretary-general-humanitarian-affairs-and-emergency-relief-coordinator-stephen http://bit.ly/2aj4Y8a http://www.msf.org/en/article/20160622-nigeria-least-24000-displaced-people-dire-health-situation-bama http://www.mercycorps.org/articles/nigeria/nearly-25-million-face-starvation-nigeria http://reliefweb.int/disaster/ot-2011-000205-ner http://stories.actionagainsthunger.org/emergency-crisis-in-nigeria Visit the related web page
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