View previous stories
	Humanitarian situation in North-East Nigeria continues to deteriorate due to conflict and insecurity by OCHA, WFP, UNICEF, agencies Nigeria   May 2025   The humanitarian situation in North-East Nigeria has continued to deteriorate due to escalating conflict and rising insecurity, particularly in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States. Armed insurgents have intensified attacks, imposed levies on communities, and triggered mass displacements, increasing civilian casualties and disrupting access to essential services.   The resulting instability has compounded the ongoing nutrition crisis, with severe acute malnutrition threatening children and pregnant women. Livelihoods and farming have been severely disrupted by the ongoing violence..   Nigeria and UN seek funding for Urgent Food and Nutrition Crisis Response   With a deteriorating food security and nutrition crisis in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states this lean season (May to September), the Government of Nigeria, national and international partners have launched an appeal seeking US$306 million to fast-track food assistance, nutrition supplies and services, clean water, healthcare, and protection support to people in severe need during the period.   In the BAY states, some 4.8 million people are estimated to be facing severe food insecurity, the highest levels in seven years, according to the Government-led Cadre Harmonise analysis released in March this year. Children, pregnant and lactating women, older persons, and people living with disabilities are among those who are most vulnerable.   The appeal, the lean season food security and nutrition crisis multisector plan, is targeting 2.8 million of these people for urgent interventions.   The food and nutrition crisis, has been compounded by soaring food prices, is primarily due to continued conflict and insecurity in the BAY states, alongside climate change impacts.   It threatens to become catastrophic without immediate and coordinated intervention.   The prices of staple foods like beans and maize have increased by 300 to 400 per cent over the past year following the removal of the fuel subsidy and the depreciation of the naira. Inflation is outpacing the ability of families to cope, making essential food items unaffordable.   Malnutrition rates are of great concern. Approximately 700,000 children under five are projected to be acutely malnourished over the next six months, including 230,000 who are expected to be severely acutely malnourished and at risk of death if they do not receive timely treatment and nutrition support.   "UNICEF is deeply concerned about the escalating food security and nutrition crisis in the BAY states. The alarming rise in severe acute malnutrition among children underscores the urgent need for immediate action. This year alone, we have seen around 120,000 admissions for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition with complications, far exceeding our estimated target of 90,000.   We must ensure that lifesaving nutrition commodities reach every child in need. This is not just a call to action; it is a race against time to save lives and protect the future of millions of vulnerable children," said Dr Rownak Khan, the Acting Representative of UNICEF Nigeria.   The World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director, David Stevenson, said: “We need to get out of conflict into solutions, and the solution is peace. Meanwhile, there remains a conflict in the north-east that requires our collective urgent assistance. We are prioritizing access to nutritious foods by providing cash-based transfers, specialized nutritious foods, and by supporting local food solutions, but we need urgent funding support.”   Alongside efforts to protect lives, there is also a need to strengthen people’s resilience by supporting agricultural livelihoods which sustain over 80 per cent of the vulnerable people across the BAY states. Limited funding for agricultural livelihoods continues to perpetuate cyclical food insecurity.   http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-and-un-seek-us306-million-urgent-food-and-nutrition-crisis-response http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/emergency-appeal-nigeria-africa-acute-malnutrition-mdrng042 http://www.unfpa.org/resources/nigeria-situation-report-april-2025 http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1159140/?iso3=NGA   http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/05/nigeria-mounting-death-toll-unchecked-attacks-armed-groups/ http://www.globalr2p.org/countries/nigeria/ http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-borno-adamawa-and-yobe-bay-states-situation-report-20-feb-2025 http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/lost-land-broken-homes-struggles-returnees-and-relocated-persons-northeast-nigeria-may-2025 http://www.rescue.org/press-release/northwest-nigeria-10000-people-displaced-result-conflict-last-two-months-are-urgent http://reliefweb.int/country/nga   Jan. 2024 (ACAPS)   In 2023, violence against civilians has continued in the northeast and northwest of Nigeria and intensified in the past few months, causing casualties and additional forced displacement (WFP 29/11/2023; ECHO 07/11/2023). Violent incidents reported include attacks, kidnapping, and extortion by non-state armed groups (NSAGs), such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP), as well as militias known locally as bandits.   In the northwest, mass and individual kidnappings for ransom increased between August–September, with armed groups relying on these measures to generate income amid the escalating macroeconomic crisis (FEWS NET 01/10/2023). In the northeast, at least 55 people have been killed in recent months (ECHO 07/11/2023; WFP 29/11/2023).   As at February 2023, over 8.3 million people needed humanitarian assistance in the states of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe in the northeast and Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara in the northwest because of armed conflicts, compounded by environmental and climatic factors.   In the northeast, there were around 2.3 million IDPs, 94% of whom because of NSAG violence against civilians. Around 5% of the IDPs were displaced by intercommunal clashes as at June 2023 (IOM 19/09/2023). In the northwest, bandit attacks and intercommunal violence triggered the displacement of over 609,000 people as at December 2022 (UNHCR 30/11/2023; WFP 29/11/2023; The Conversation 15/08/2023).   The most urgent needs of affected people include protection, food, WASH, health services, education, and shelter (OCHA 20/03/2023; ECHO 07/11/2023).   As at September 2023, more than 363,000 Nigerians had fled the northwest and northeast of the country and registered as refugees in Cameroon, Chad, or Niger (UNHCR 30/11/2023).   Nov. 2023   26.5 million Nigerians projected to be food insecure in 2024. (FAO, OCHA, UNICEF)   In 2024, Nigeria is expected to see about 26.5 million people grappling with high levels of food insecurity, according to the October 2023 Cadre Harmonise analysis on food insecurity.   Over 9 million children are at risk of suffering from acute malnutrition or wasting. Of these, an alarming 2.6 million children could face Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and require critical nutrition treatment.   The Cadre Harmonise, an initiative focused on food and nutrition analysis, conducts studies biannually (in March and October) across 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). With the Government and the United Nations system's support, the latest projection for 2024 indicates a sharp rise from the 18.6 million people currently vulnerable to food insecurity from October to December 2023.   Several factors are driving this trend, including ongoing conflicts, climate change impacts, escalating inflation, and rising costs of both food and essential non-food commodities (in part due to the devaluation of the naira and the discontinuation of the fuel subsidy). Persistent violence in the north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY) hinders food availability and access.   Additionally, armed banditry and kidnappings in northwest and north-central states, including Katsina, Sokoto, Kaduna, Benue, and Niger, exacerbate the prevailing economic struggles.   Of the 18.6 million people who experience food insecurity today, 3.3 million live in the northeastern states of the BAY region. This number may rise to 26.5 million nationwide by the height of the 2024 lean season (and to 4.4 million in the BAY states) if immediate action is not taken.   The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that floods in October 2023 in Adamawa led to mass displacements, particularly among women, children, and the elderly. Such extreme weather patterns, linked to the El Nino phenomenon, are further undermining food security.   “Food insecurity and malnutrition are among the main drivers of humanitarian need in the BAY states,” said Mr. Trond Jensen, the head of OCHA in Nigeria.   “People have been forced to adopt negative coping mechanisms to stay alive. Over the past year, dozens of farmers have lost their lives, and others have been abducted or injured while eking out a living outside the security perimeters of Borno’s garrison towns due to limited farming lands and few or no livelihood options.”   UNICEF's Country Representative, Ms. Cristian Munduate, emphasized the urgent need for action. "Every child deserves proper nutrition and a life free from hunger. It's not merely a responsibility but a moral duty for governments and the global community to ensure these rights are upheld."   Highlighting the long-standing issue, David Stevenson, WFP’s Country Representative, said, "The hunger crisis in Nigeria, fueled by the ongoing conflict in the northeast, needs urgent addressing. Restoring peace in the northeast is critical for us to build pathways to production and achieve the northeast’s potential as the food basket of the country”.   Trend analysis for the northeastern states indicates consistently high or rising food insecurity levels since 2018. Over 4 million people have needed urgent assistance annually since June 2020.   The United Nations urges the Nigerian Government, donors, and stakeholders to commit resources and implement measures to avert a potential food and nutrition disaster, emphasizing the need for immediate support across the nation.   http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/acaps-briefing-note-nigeria-conflict-northeastern-and-northwestern-nigeria-03-january-2024 http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/265-million-nigerians-projected-be-food-insecure-2024 http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/lean-season-food-security-and-nutrition-crisis-multisector-plan-2023-update-1 http://www.msf.org/nigeria-urgent-action-needed-avert-catastrophic-malnutrition-crisis http://www.unocha.org/news/north-east-nigeria-sowing-seeds-hope-amid-despair http://www.unicef.org/nigeria/ http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/countries-in-focus-archive/issue-90/en/ http://dtm.iom.int/nigeria http://www.nrc.no/countries/africa/nigeria/ http://www.globalr2p.org/countries/nigeria/ http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria http://www.undp.org/nigeria/publications/assessing-impact-conflict-development-north-east-nigeria http://www.unhcr.org/ng/news/press-releases/cccm-shelter-and-nfi-sector-call-enhanced-support-address-urgent-needs Visit the related web page
	Protection measures needed to support children with disabilities in armed conflict by UN Office for Human Rights   Persons with disabilities, particularly children, are too often left behind in situations of armed conflict and experience serious risks and challenges to flee, protect themselves and access necessities, UN experts warned today, urging States to take protective measures and ensure inclusion and access to assistance.   Ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December, the experts issued the following statement:   “The proliferation of armed conflict across the world continues unabated, with protracted conflicts greatly expanding the impact and scope of harm on civilians and children in particular. People with disabilities are highly vulnerable when conflict erupts due to persistent discrimination, and children with disabilities endure the most serious risks and challenges before, during and after armed conflict.   Inability to flee the fighting, risk of abandonment, lack of access to basic services, such as food, water, shelter, and assistive devices, but also to education and health care and exposure to stigma, discrimination, gender-based violence, psychological harm and poverty are unfortunately common realities for all persons with disabilities in all conflict settings, especially children. The breakdown of services and infrastructure is especially harmful for them, and they often remain invisible when assistance is planned and delivered.   Moreover, outdated and discriminatory practices such as institutionalisation mean children may be abandoned in institutions where risks of human rights abuses are already higher and will have to fend for themselves when caregivers flee the violence.   In addition, grave violations against children can lead to long-term impacts and result in different forms of impairment, posing additional challenges to children’s recovery and reintegration.   The intersection of gender and disability also creates additional risks for girls with disabilities, as they often face sexual violence, trafficking and enslavement during armed conflict, and are disproportionally excluded from education services.   Lack of sustainable psychosocial support and access to mental health services have a deleterious impact on the mental wellbeing of all children who have experienced conflict. This is doubly so for children with disabilities who may have their existing impairment exacerbated or may have acquired a secondary impairment.   In these circumstances and in light of commitments laid out in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the reaffirmation of a requirement to have inclusive protection frameworks during armed conflict set forth by UN Security Council Resolutions 2225, 2475, and 2601, we recommend that States adopt measures to protect persons with disabilities, including children specifically, in order to prevent violations and abuses against them in situations of armed conflict.   We call on States to allow and facilitate safe, timely and unimpeded humanitarian access to persons with disabilities in need of assistance, including children. It is vital to provide timely, sustainable, appropriate, inclusive and accessible assistance in terms of health care, rehabilitation services, early intervention programmes, education, assistive devices, and mental health and psychosocial support on an equal basis with others. In this way, specific reintegration needs can be effectively addressed.   Persons with disabilities must be meaningfully included in humanitarian action as well as in conflict prevention, reconciliation, resolution, reconstruction, and peacebuilding. They are an asset in helping to rebuild societies torn apart by conflict.   We stress the importance of quality and timely data and information to understand how armed conflict affects persons with disabilities, including children. To that end, data collected on violations and abuses against civilians in armed conflict should be disaggregated by disability, gender and age.   Finally, we urge States to undertake measures to end impunity for crimes against civilians, including persons with disabilities, and ensure their access to justice, effective remedies, and, as appropriate, reparation."   * Gerard Quinn, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; Rosemary Kayess, Chair of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/12/protection-measures-needed-support-children-disabilities-armed-conflict-un http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a77203-report-protection-rights-persons-disabilities-context-military http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/research-papers/protection-persons-disabilities-during-armed-conflict Visit the related web page
	View more stories