Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Thursday 8/18/2016 - 19:17 GMT

The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) militant group on Thursday threatened to pull the oil region out of Nigeria, accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of fuelling divisions in the country.

"The Buhari-led government has failed Nigerians with their misdirected policies that have divided the country, as such nobody wants to be part of that failed state not even the Niger delta," the NDA said in a statement.

Since the start of the year, the Avengers have carried out a string of devastating attacks on Nigeria's oil pipelines and facilities.

The oil rebels said the Niger Delta, home to the country's multi-billion-dollar oil and gas resources might declare an independence on October 1.

"The October 1st declaration of independence is still sacrosanct. If the Nigerian government fails to retrace its step by restructuring this country," it warned.

Nigeria marks October 1st as the anniversary of its political independence from colonial power Britain in 1960.

The Avengers said they wished that northern Nigeria could also strike crude oil.

"Our prayer for Buhari and the northern hypocrite (northern Governors) is that oil should be found in commercial quantity in the north, so they can let the Niger delta go," it added.

Buhari, a northern Muslim, came to power in May 2015 following his victory over former president Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the Niger delta.

Oil majors including Shell, Exxon, Chevron, Eni and the state-run oil group NNPC have been targeted in the attacks this year.

The attacks have reduced Nigeria's output by a third, hammering government revenue at a time of global low oil prices.

The oil sector accounts for 90 percent of the nation's foreign exchange earnings and 70 percent of government revenue.

The Avengers claim to seek a fairer share of Nigeria's oil wealth for residents of the region as well as self-determination and political autonomy.

They have rejected a government truce to end the violence.

joa/har

© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse

Aid workers carry out life-saving often in dangerous and difficult circumstances. Over the past 16 years, 427 aid workers were killed, wounded or kidnapped in West and Central Africa. The number of victims follows a worrying upward trend with spikes in attacks recorded in recent years. Countries with the highest number of victims are the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Chad and Mali. The majority of victims were national staff, who account for the bulk of humanitarian workers and are often the most exposed to risks

Chika Oduah

ABUJA — Seven years of war against Boko Haram militants have left northeastern Nigeria in the grips of a humanitarian emergency. Borno state has borne the brunt of the violence and is now feeling the pain of an increasing food shortage.

More than a million Nigerians have fled to the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, to escape the raids on villages, the suicide bombings, and the military operations that have characterized the Boko Haram insurgency.

Many of them live in shanty settlements where they have little access to food and clean water.

Across the city, people are squatting in abandoned fields, uncompleted buildings and under trees.

To survive, many rely on leaves they gather from the fields. Sometimes they go two or three days without eating. It is not what they expected.

“We came here to Maiduguri because of high expectations we had that things will be better if we are here,” says Ya Falmata, an elderly woman among the displaced.

She has set up a makeshift tent made of twigs and bamboo in the middle of a field where more than 13,000 people are living, trying to survive.

Talk of famine

“They become malnourished because they do not eat and they are not adequately fed. And there’s no food,” says Rebecca Smith, a nurse with Doctors Without Borders.

She sees some of the most extreme cases of illness at a hospital that the organization has set up.

“These cases are malnourished children that come with respiratory distress that needs O2 (oxygen) therapy, that needs blood transfusion, that are very very sick. Common cases are from disease, problems like measles, whooping cough,” Smith says.

Relief agencies have warned of a possible famine in parts of Borno state, where fighting between government forces and Boko Haram has discouraged farming and cut off some areas from outside aid.

In the local markets, the price of produce has increased because of the food shortage.

The government runs displaced persons camps, but not enough for everyone who needs shelter.

And some Nigerians say food distribution in the camps is unfair. Makkah Mustafa, who lives in a warehouse with dozens of other families, is one of them.

“We don’t know the reason why, but the distributors in the camps do not distribute food to everyone. Some people will get [it]. Some people will not.”

Some help is slowly coming. A group of children are seen gathered waiting for a food delivery truck from a local charity. They sing happy songs from happier times. Their parents and guardians hope the happier times will return.

Linord Moudou

Despite two new polio cases — the first in Nigeria in two years — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is optimistic the African nation will be able to defeat polio, even though intense challenges make it hard to immunize children in the most vulnerable areas.

Gates told VOA's "Africa 54" program Wednesday that two newly reported cases of polio in Nigeria are "a disappointment" after so much success — not only in Africa, but in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the only other countries where polio is still endemic.

"Our main challenge is that we have kids who the vaccinators have a tough time finding," he said. "Reaching those kids in an insecure environment can be very complex...Obviously, we're going to need great partnerships with the governments in the region, particularly up in the northeast," in Nigeria's Borno State.

But Gates said he is quite optimistic that as many kids as possible can be protected in northern Nigeria.

"We're getting smarter all the time about how we find the villages, how we reach out to the traditional leaders," he said. "We've got a great team up there. The government's working with us. We need to access kids and we need for people to understand the importance of getting all the kids to take this oral polio vaccine."

Since 2000​, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — the charity started by the computer-technology magnate and his wife — has donated $3.5 billion to eradicate polio.

Nigeria launched an emergency campaign to vaccinate millions of children against polio, after two cases were found in toddlers earlier this month — the first cases in Nigeria in two years.

Officials say the 15-month-old boy and 2-year-old girl likely will be paralyzed for the rest of their lives. They were stricken in Borno, part of which is under siege by Boko Haram terrorists.

The Islamic militants not only make it extremely difficult to educate parents about the crippling disease, they also make it dangerous and nearly impossible for health workers to immunize children.

Nigerian forces are accompanying medical volunteers to guarantee their safety.

Teams are also vaccinating children inside a displaced persons camp in Borno and will soon spread out to the neighboring states surrounding the Lake Chad region in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Polio cannot be cured, and the virus struck fear in parents before Dr. Jonas Salk developed the vaccine in 1952. Kids no longer need a painful needle to get vaccinated, as the vaccine can be administered via a few drops taken orally.

VOA's Ken Schwartz contributed to this report.

Nigeria’s north-east region is undergoing a humanitarian crisis due to prolonged conflict, continuous violence wrought on civilians by Boko Haram, and counter-insurgency measures to combat the terror. Over the last six years, more than 2 million people have fled towns and villages across Adamawa, Borno, Gobme and Yobe states as their homes and farms were razed to the ground. For the third consecutive year, fields remain unplanted, and hundreds of thousands of people are trapped in inaccessible areas without food, water and basic health services.

People who managed to flee went towards Borno’s state capital, Maiduguri, and moved in with host families, placing a huge strain on the local population. The city’s population was once 1 million but now tops 2.4 million. This huge surge of people is comparable to the entire population of Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, fleeing to Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen.

Read the full story here

Voices of refugees and internally displaced people from Niger and Nigeria

Since 2009, millions of people in the Lake Chad Basin have been affected by a conflict originating in Nigeria. Over 2.6 million people have been displaced by the violent acts of a group popularly known as Boko Haram, and the military operation that has followed. Far from abating, the conflict has intensified and spilled over into neighbouring countries.

Some 9.2 million people are now in immediate need of humanitarian assistance across Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Although this is Africa’s fastest growing displacement crisis, the humanitarian impact has received scant international attention.

This paper aims to give voice to people affected by the conflict. It calls for donors and the governments of the affected countries to do much more to provide help to people in need, as well as guarantee their safety, uphold their rights and allow immediate humanitarian access to areas that are currently receiving little to no assistance.

By: Aicha Chir Nou

World Humanitarian Day, on August 19, celebrates the spirit of sharing our common humanity.

In Daresalam refugee camp in the Lake region of Chad, Jonathan dreams of his previous life, and recalls how he was abruptly forced to leave it behind.

“We are 22 tailors and dressmakers from Gamboru Ngala, a small town located at the border between Cameroon and Nigeria. We had a good reputation for the quality of clothes we made, and were well respected in the community. Then one day, everything changed. One morning, we found our names on a leaflet that had been circulated all over the city. It said that the clothes we were making for women were too short. The leaflet was signed by Boko Haram. Fearing for our safety, we were forced to leave. I left for Baga in 2012, and I stayed there until the day of the attack.”

The tailor and sewing instructor fled Baga on 3 January 2015, after Boko Haram attacked the town, to cross the border and seek refuge in Chad. He is now sharing his skills, teaching sewing to young people in the refugee camp. He told me it is the least he can do. For the young people, sewing is a crucial skill that could help them earn a living.

Too often, we forget that the first ‘humanitarian workers’ are the members of the community themselves – people like Jonathan. In an emergency, they are on the front line because they know their peers, speak the language and often have skills to share.

Learn and share

Jonathan offers sewing workshops at the camp’s Child Friendly Space, where hundreds of refugee adolescents come to enjoy recreational and learning activities that also include art classes and football games.

Under a large tent, sitting on colorful mats, girls form a circle around sewing machines, cutting assorted pieces of cloth. The clatter of the pedals punctuating the girls’ conversations, amidst the multicolored cotton fabrics scattered on the floor, make for a lively atmosphere.

I observe as Jonathan leads the class and lends a hand to those who need help. His students laugh, chat, but remain focused on their tasks. One of the students, Maimouna, 15, comes up to me and asks what I am doing here. I tease her, saying that I came to learn sewing with them. “We’re like sisters, you are welcome to join us,” she says, smiling.

Thinking about the future

Jonathan’s class offers valuable skills, as well as a respite from the struggles of the present – and that makes it a space where it is possible to think about the future.

“Most girls wanted to learn something new. I was already teaching adults when I was in Cameroon and Nigeria. This is an opportunity for me to share my experience with ‘my children’. They make me forget about all the troubles. And here, I do not feel threatened to do my job,” says Jonathan.

“When we come here, we set aside our problems and we focus on what we have to do. We can offer the clothes we make to our relatives and we have fun making them,” says Maimouna, as she cuts some yellow fabric. “Those pants are for my little brother, and that dress is a gift for a neighbor who will marry soon.”

Jonathan is confident that they are crafting something durable here. “So far, I’ve trained 12 young people, 11 girls and 1 boy. Sewing is a great way to take their minds off things they have been through. It helps them to think of their future. Who knows? Maybe, one day they will become great fashion designers. I’ve heard that there are refugees competing at the Olympics. I believe in these young people. What matters is their will.”

Aicha Chir Nour is an Editorial and Publication Officer with UNICEF Chad.

Pour les « Prix Producteurs »

Les prix collectés ce mois de Juillet 2016, nous indiquent que :

• Riz Gambiaka: le prix le moins cher est 300 FCFA/kg enregistré à Niono, Siengo et Kléla et 400 le plus cher à Sofara (Mopti.)

• Riz Adny11 : il est en hausse à Niono avec 300 FCFA/kg contre 195 le mois passé, 315 à Siengo (Ségou), et 330 FCFA/kg à Baguinéda (Koulikoro).

• Riz BG : il se vend à 330 FCFA/kg à Baguinéda (Koulikoro) et 375 à Sofara (Mopti).

• Riz Local étuvé : il est vendu à 400 FCFA/kg maximum à Niono la variété Gambiaka et 350 à Siengo, Sofara enregistre 300 et enfin 250 à Klela (Sikasso).

• Paddy : le prix des différentes variétés est de 150 FCFA/kg à Niono et Siengo.

• Les Semences : les prix ont évolué entre 280 FCFA/kg pour la R2 et 300 pour la R1 à Siengo en zone office du Niger et 375 FCFA pour les variétés BG et Wassa à Baguinéda.

(Bamako, 19 août 2016) – Chaque 19 août, la Journée mondiale de l’aide humanitaire est célébrée partout dans le monde pour rendre hommage au dévouement des milliers de travailleurs humanitaires qui œuvrent jour après jour pour soulager les souffrances causées par les crises. Cette année, le thème de la Journée est « UNE HUMANITÉ » pour appeler les dirigeants et l’ensemble des acteurs concernés à s’engager, au nom de cette humanité que nous partageons tous, à redoubler d’efforts pour répondre et mettre fin aux besoins humanitaires.

Au plus fort de la crise dans le nord du Mali, plus d’un demi-million de personnes avaient fui vers les régions du centre et du sud et les pays voisins. Le conflit qui a éclaté en 2012 a aggravé les vulnérabilités des communautés déjà affaiblies par la pauvreté extrême, de forts taux d’insécurité alimentaire et de malnutrition, ainsi que d’importants déficits en matière d’accès aux services de base. Le tissu socio-économique, les moyens de production et les infrastructures sociales de base ont aussi été fragilisés.

La stabilisation politique et sécuritaire en cours a permis de nombreuses avancées, notamment en matière de redéploiement de l’autorité de l’État et de reprise des services sociaux de base. La grande majorité des personnes déplacées sont maintenant retournées dans le nord tandis que certains réfugiés maliens ont aussi commencé à rentrer. Il reste aujourd’hui environ 39 000 déplacés internes au Mali et environ 134 000 réfugiés maliens dans les pays voisins.

Face aux besoins humanitaires sans précédents depuis la deuxième guerre mondiale qui sont actuellement générés par les conflits et les catastrophes naturelles dans le monde, le système en place et les ressources disponibles ne suffisent plus. Au Mali, comme dans les autres pays touchés par les crises, la réponse humanitaire est sous-financée. À ce jour, l’appel de fonds de 354 millions de dollars (USD) lancé par l’ONU et ses partenaires pour soutenir la réponse aux besoins humanitaires au pays en 2016 n’a mobilisé que 28 pour cent des ressources requises.

« La communauté internationale doit rester engagée à soutenir le Mali » indique la Coordonnatrice de l’action humanitaire au Mali par intérim, Mme Fatouma Seid. « En renforçant davantage la capacité de résilience des populations et des institutions ainsi que le soutien aux acteurs nationaux et communautaires en matière de préparation et de réponse aux urgences, nous pouvons réduire les besoins humanitaires et mieux les prévenir » ajoute-t-elle.

Le renforcement des capacités nationales et du rôle crucial des acteurs locaux figurent d’ailleurs au centre de l’« Agenda pour l’humanité » proposé par le Secrétaire général des Nations Unies. Le document, à la base du premier Sommet Humanitaire Mondial tenu à Istanbul les 23-24 mai dernier, vise à mobiliser les gouvernements, les organisations internationales et multilatérales, le secteur privé et la société civile à travailler ensemble à des solutions concrètes aux défis humanitaires actuels globaux.

Les nombreuses activités organisées pour marquer l’édition 2016 de la Journée mondiale de l’aide humanitaire au Mali s’inscrivent dans l’esprit de cet « Agenda pour l’humanité ». En particulier, à Tombouctou, Gao et Mopti, des foires-expositions mettront en valeur le travail des organisations et associations locales. Des échanges entre acteurs humanitaires et représentants de différents groupes des communautés affectées sont aussi prévus ainsi que des manifestations sportives et artistiques.

Par ailleurs, une vaste campagne est aussi lancée sur les radios de proximités pour sensibiliser dans leurs langues les populations aux principes qui guident l’action humanitaire et aux défis liés à l’accès dans les zones touchées par l’insécurité. En effet, face à la multiplication des violences enregistrées ces dernières années contre les travailleurs humanitaires dans de nombreux conflits, le respect du droit international humanitaire est une des priorités fondamentales de l’ « Agenda pour l’humanité ». Le Mali n’est malheureusement pas épargné par cette tendance. Trois travailleurs humanitaires y sont morts en service depuis 2012, tandis que de nombreux incidents violents - véhicules brulés ou volés, menaces et agressions physiques - continuent à y affecter régulièrement le personnel des organisations humanitaires.

Heavy rains expected to further increase risk of flooding in West and East Africa

Africa Weather Hazards

1. The persistence of above-average rainfall continues to increase both short-term and long-term rainfall surpluses and trigger flooding throughout many areas in Sudan, South Sudan and western Ethiopia. Above-average rainfall is forecast to continue over the region, further worsening the potential for flooding over many downstream areas of eastern Sudan during the next week.

2. Although less rainfall is forecast over the region this week, torrential rains in early August led to floods that damaged infrastructure and food stocks and displaced people in the Darfur States of Sudan.

3. Increased locust populations in Yemen are forecast to migrate across the Red Sea into parts of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti during August.

4. Heavy and frequent rain over the past several weeks has led to substantial rainfall surpluses and flooding over over many local areas of West Africa. During the next week, above-average rainfall is forecast, which will further increase the risk of flooding.

5. Heavy rainfall in July over parts of Senegal, Mali, and southern Mauritania has led to the potential for increased numbers of locusts, which may negatively impact cropping activities.

1. Key points

• According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)’s Financial Tracking Service (FTS), donors have committed/contributed US$185.2 million of humanitarian assistance since the start of 2016.

• The United States (US) is the largest donor to Nigeria, contributing 35% of total funding so far in 2016 (US$64.3 million). The three largest donors account for 68% of reported funding in 2016.

• The 2016 UN-coordinated Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Nigeria requests US$279.3 million, of which US$92.9 million has been contributed so far, leaving two thirds of appeal requirements unmet.

• The UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has allocated US$23.5 million to emergencies in the country in 2016 – all funded through the rapid response window.

2. Recent humanitarian funding to Nigeria

A total of US$185.2 million in international humanitarian assistance to Nigeria has been reported to the FTS as committed/contributed so far in 2016.

The US is the largest donor and accounts for almost a third of total reported funding in 2016 (35%; US$64.3 million). It is followed by the European Union (EU; comprising the EU Commission and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department) and the CERF, committing/contributing US$37.6 million and US$24.2 million, respectively. Funding from these largest three donors has accounted for 68% of total reported funding in 2016 so far.

The Start Fund is the 18th largest donor (out of 27 named donors) with US$150,000 of humanitarian assistance committed/contributed to Nigeria so far in 2016.

En réaction aux cas de poliomyélite poliovirus sauvage dans la région de Borno dans les districts de Jere et Gwoza au Nigeria. Le Ministère de la Santé Publique a planifié une campagne de riposte du 26 au 28 août dans les régions de l’Extrême Nord, du Nord et de l'Adamaoua au cours des Journées Locales de Vaccination.

Gains against Boko Haram expose catastrophic levels of suffering for hundreds of thousands of people, many beyond humanitarian reach for months or years.

19 August 2016

GENEVA – Gains made by a military campaign against Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria have in recent weeks exposed catastrophic levels of suffering among the population of the area, many of whom have been out of reach of humanitarian help for months or years, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency warned today.

The push by Nigerian Government forces in cooperation with the Multi-National Joint Task Force has rolled back gains by the militants, whose insurgency has displaced more than 1.8 million people within Nigeria since 2009.

“At present, and with the military campaign still in progress, the situation is shifting and remains dangerous and volatile,” UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told a news briefing in Geneva on Friday (August 19).

“There have been frequent hit and run incidents by militants, including suicide bombings, attacks on civilians, torching of homes, and thefts of livestock,” he added.

“The level of peril and difficulty in delivering life-saving help is high, as are the costs.”

Edwards said that a UN convoy was attacked with an improvised explosive device and gunfire on July 27, resulting in injuries to three aid workers as well as members of the military escort. He stressed that “the level of peril and difficulty in delivering life-saving help is high – as, by consequence, are the costs.”

While many areas are still beyond the reach of aid workers, Edwards said that in Borno and Yobe States, the picture of suffering is “shocking.”

“There are numerous reports of human rights violations, including deaths, sexual violence, disappearances, forced recruitment, forced religious conversions, and attacks on civilian sites.” Some 800,000 additional internally displaced people have been identified as needing help. Severe malnutrition on a wide scale is being reported, and the needs are growing with each day. In Borno State 51,474 people are on UNHCR’s critically vulnerable list, 21,912 of these being children – more than three quarters of whom have lost one or both parents.

**NIGERIA - A stranger’s kindness*

An additional displacement complication has arisen from the knock-on effect of the military activity and the resulting further spread of insecurity to the north and west across the borders and into parts of Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The violent attacks against military personnel in Bosso town, Diffa, on June 3, resulted in the worst displacement there since the beginning of the crisis in 2013.

Amid this, some 106,000 Nigerian refugees have been pressed back into Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, becoming new internally displaced people in the process, in need of reception, registration and other protection help, plus shelter, psycho-social support and material assistance.

Edwards said UNHCR is responding by scaling its operations up. The immediate focus is on the needs of some 488,000 highly vulnerable people in critical condition and now concentrated in ten newly liberated Local Government Areas in Borno State, plus the needs of the returned refugees.

UNHCR teams together with other UN agencies, the Nigerian government and NGO partners took advantage of a narrow and recently opened corridor to coordinate rapid joint needs and protection assessments in Damboa, Dikwa and several other areas in May and June.

More recently, UNHCR has been able to assess humanitarian needs in Bama – Borno’s largest city, after the capital Maiduguri — with a pre-insurgency population of 350,000. There are no civil administration or police services in these areas as of yet, although there have been slight and gradual changes since the aftermath of the UN convoy attack.

“Most inhabitants have fled, homes and infrastructure are battered and meanwhile counter-insurgency operations are continuing,” Edwards told reporters at the briefing.

“Many of the displaced are women, children, the elderly and others with urgent needs. We have seen adults so exhausted they are unable to move, and children with swollen faces and hollow eyes and other clear indications of acute malnutrition,” he added.

“We have seen adults so exhausted they are unable to move, and children with swollen faces and hollow eyes.”

Edwards said many also show signs of severe trauma. People complain about a lack of food and water, as shortages of diesel fuel in the area mean pumping water is difficult. New displaced people arrive daily.

Beyond these areas, access in others remains impossible without military escort, and is for periods of only a few hours at a time. There is urgent need for armoured vehicles and military escorts, providing security and protection for UNHCR and humanitarian partners to be able to more effectively reach vulnerable populations.

A number of satellite camps for the internally displaced, which at present are being run by the military or local security groups, are below standard and need to come under the management of humanitarian actors with the proper expertise, and to help ensure the civilian character of these sites.

Since it began seven years ago, the insurgency in northeast Nigeria has mutated into a vast regional crisis confronting Nigeria and its three Lake Chad Basin neighbours – Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Insecurity has driven more than 187,000 Nigerians across the border, but incursions by Boko Haram into the surrounding countries have generated growing numbers of internally displaced people too. There are 157,000 internally displaced people in Cameroon, 74,800 in Chad and over 127,000 in Niger. As of the most recent available date there are 2,066,783 displaced people within Nigeria.

Background

1. The African Public Health Emergency Fund (APHEF or the Fund) was established by the Regional Committee in 2012 with the aim of providing catalytic resources for initiating timely responses to public health emergencies. Ever since, commitments have been made at every subsequent Regional Committee session to improve the functionality of this solidarity fund.

2. Despite all the commitments made, actual contributions to APHEF have remained very low.
   Between 2012 and June 2016, only 13 countries had ever contributed to the Fund.1 Total contributions stand at US$ 3 619 438. This constitutes about 1.5% of the expected amount. Of the 13 countries that have contributed so far, Eritrea has done so three times, Rwanda twice and the rest have contributed once (Annex 2).

3. APHEF has contributed to the management of public health emergencies in the Region (Annex 3). The Fund has so far disbursed a total of US$ 2.73 million to support life-saving interventions in 13 countries.2 Only four of the countries that have received APHEF support have ever contributed to the Fund.3 None of the requested amounts for each of the emergencies could be fully allocated, mainly owing to inadequate funds. US$ 473 897 was the average requested amount, while the average allocation was US$ 210 257 (Annex 3). For 12 of the 13 requests received from 2014 to 2016, funds were made available within two working days as stipulated in the APHEF operations manual.

4. In 2016, APHEF has supported responses to the yellow fever outbreak in Angola and the El Niño crisis in Ethiopia. In 2014 and 2015, the Fund supported the provision of emergency health care to internally-displaced populations in the Central African Republic and South Sudan; refugees in Cameroon and flood victims in Burundi, Malawi and Zimbabwe. In addition, APHEF supported the responses to the outbreaks of meningococcal meningitis in Niger and Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The disbursements from APHEF complement resources from other funding initiatives such as the newly established Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE),4 which supports WHO deployments.

5. Considering the crucial role of APHEF, the Sixty-fifth session of the Regional Committee reiterated the importance of strengthening its functionality. The ministers of health deliberated on possible demotivating factors that could explain the inadequate contributions. These included significant variations in the amounts of countries’ contributions and the limited involvement of the ministries of finance. The Committee adopted a report, AFR/RC65/R5, that called for the revision of the APHEF framework.

6. The above report requested the Secretariat to establish a multidisciplinary expert group to review the current APHEF framework and undertake an assessment to understand the reasons why countries are not making their contributions. Furthermore, it requested the Regional Director to facilitate consultations between ministers of health and finance, and other relevant sectors.

7. WHO convened a meeting of the multidisciplinary group of experts from the ministries of health and finance in June 2016. The key questions the experts deliberated upon included whether APHEF was needed, why it was not functioning optimally and how its functionality could be improved. The experts unanimously acknowledged the usefulness of APHEF and highlighted the critical challenges to be addressed. They reviewed the APHEF formula for contributions and made recommendations for consideration by the Regional Committee (Annex 1a). In addition, WHO conducted an assessment using a structured questionnaire filled by the countries, to understand the difficulties they face in honouring their contributions.

8. This paper highlights the key issues and challenges affecting the optimal functioning of APHEF. It takes into account recommendations from the multidisciplinary expert group and proposes actions for improved performance.

816 aid workers reported killed, kidnapped, injured or assaulted between January 2015 and June 2016

In 2015, open sources reported 515 aid workers killed (179), kidnapped (129) and assaulted or injured (207) in 234 severe incidents. During the first six months of 2016, open sources reported 301 aid workers killed (129), kidnapped (75) and assaulted or injured (97) in 122 severe incidents.