CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

WAVE OF ATTACKS WORSENS INSECURITY

A recent wave of violent attacks, as well as robberies against humanitarian organizations, and civilians has heightened concerns over worsening insecurity. In the most recent attack on 15 October, 11 people were killed and 10 others wounded in a shoot-out at a camp for the displaced in Ngakobo in the central Ouaka prefecture. The UN peacekeeping force MINUSCA has intensified patrols around the camp. Three days earlier, armed assailants robbed civilians and the premises of several aid groups in the northern Kaga Bandoro area which has witnessed a rise in attacks in recent weeks. The attackers also ransacked and torched the homes of aid workers, government representatives and the local parish. Several shelters for the internally displaced were set ablaze, and thousands of displaced have sought refuge around the MINUSCA base. MINUSCA, the UN humanitarian coordinator and the Minister of Social Affairs and National Reconciliation have strongly denounced the violence and urged for calm.

CHAD

CHILD UNDER-NUTRITION HURTING ECONOMY

The economic burden associated with undernutrition costs Chad more than US$ 1.2 billion every year, or 9.5 per cent of the GDP, according to a study by Cost of Hunger in Africa, an African Union-led project. While decreasing over the past decade, the level of stunting in Chad still affects almost 40 per cent of under 5 children. In the last five years, more than 183,000 children in Chad died from causes directly related to under-nutrition - 43 per cent of all child deaths. Those who survive show lower educational achievements and lower productivity.

MALI

INSECURITY HAMPERS EDUCATION IN MOPTI

At least 115 out of 665 schools in the central Mopti region have not re-opened in the current academic year owing to insecurity.
Some 13,000 children are affected.
Ténenkou is the worst affected of four districts in Mopti, with 80 per cent of its 74 schools closed. School directors have been threatened and some education advisors killed for their efforts in re-opening schools for the new academic year. As a result, some teachers have fled to more secure areas in their districts.

NIGER

GUNMEN ABDUCT AMERICAN AID WORKER

On 14 October, a US citizen working with Youth With A Mission NGO was kidnapped by armed men in Abalak area in the western Tahoua region. Abalak is around 250 km from the Malian border. The aid worker had been living in the region since 1992. It is the first such abduction in the area. No one has so far claimed responsibility. The kidnapping occurred in the same region where gunmen last week attacked a site hosting Malian refugees and killed 22 soldiers. There are two refugee sites in the region hosting 22,228 people.

RÉPUBLIQUE CENTRAFRICAINE

UNE VAGUE D’ATTAQUES AGGRAVE L’INSÉCURITÉ

Une récente vague d'attaques violentes, ainsi que des vols contre des organisations humanitaires et des civils, ont accentué les craintes sur l'aggravation de l'insécurité. Dans l'attaque la plus récente du 15 octobre, 11 personnes ont été tuées et 10 autres blessées lors d’une fusillade dans un camp pour personnes déplacées à Ngakobo dans la préfecture de la Ouaka, au centre. La force de maintien de la paix de l’ONU, la MINUSCA, a intensifié les patrouilles autour du camp. Trois jours plus tôt, des assaillants armés ont cambriolé des civils et des locaux de plusieurs groupes d'aide dans la zone de Kaga Bandoro au nord, qui a vu une augmentation des attaques au cours des dernières semaines. Les assaillants ont également pillé et incendié des maisons de travailleurs humanitaires, de représentants gouvernementaux et la paroisse locale.
Plusieurs abris pour personnes déplacées internes ont été incendiés, et des milliers d’entre elles ont trouvé refuge autour de la base de la MINUSCA. Le Coordinateur humanitaire de l'ONU, la MINUSCA et le Ministre des affaires sociales et de la réconciliation nationale ont vivement dénoncé la violence et exhorté au calme.

TCHAD

LA MALNUTRITION PÉNALISE FORTEMENT L’ÉCONOMIE

Le fardeau économique associé à la sousalimentation coûte au Tchad plus de 1,2 milliard dollars chaque année, soit 9,5 pour cent du PIB, selon une étude réalisée par ‘Le coût de la faim en Afrique’, un projet dirigé par l'Union Africaine. Malgré une baisse au cours de la dernière décennie, le niveau de retard de croissance au Tchad touche encore près de 40 pour cent des enfants de moins de 5 ans. Au cours des cinq dernières années, plus de 183 000 enfants au Tchad sont décédés de causes directement liées à la sous-nutrition, soit 43 pour cent de tous les décès d'enfants. Ceux qui survivent ont des résultats scolaires inférieurs et une productivité plus faible.

MALI

L’INSÉCURITÉ ENTRAVE L’ÉDUCATION À MOPTI

Au moins 115 des 665 écoles de la région de Mopti, au centre, n’ont pas rouvert cette année scolaire en raison de l'insécurité, affectant quelque 13 000 enfants.
Ténenkou est le plus touché des quatre districts de Mopti, avec 80 pour cent de ses 74 écoles fermées. Des directeurs d'école ont été menacés et certains conseillers en éducation tués pour leurs efforts dans la réouverture des écoles pour l’année scolaire. Par conséquent, certains enseignants ont fui vers des zones plus sûres dans leurs districts.

NIGER

DES HOMMES ARMÉS KIDNAPPENT UN TRAVAILLEUR HUMANITAIRE AMERICAIN

Le 14 octobre, un citoyen américain travaillant pour l’ONG ‘Youth With A Mission’ a été enlevé par des hommes armés dans la zone d’Abalak, dans la région de Tahoua à l’ouest, à environ 250 km de la frontière malienne. Le travailleur humanitaire vivait dans la région depuis 1992. Il s’agit du premier enlèvement dans la région. Personne n'a jusqu'à présent revendiqué la responsabilité de l'enlèvement qui a eu lieu dans la même région où des hommes armés ont attaqué la semaine dernière un site accueillant des réfugiés maliens et tué 22 soldats. Il y a deux sites de réfugiés dans la région abritant 22 228 personnes.

This SitRep was produced by OCHA in association with humanitarian partners and is focused on the recent internal displacements since 21 July 2015. It was published by OCHA Chad and covers the period from 24 August to 30 September 2016. The next publication will be around 26 October 2016.

Highlights

• The security situation has deteriorated in the border areas of the Lac region, due to an increase in security incidents since the end of July. This affects humanitarian access and protection of vulnerable populations, particularly in border areas.

• Following new registration operations, there are now 89,010 displaced people in the Lac region, plus 35,755 estimated displaced people and nearly 7,000 refugees.

• Several new sites have been discovered by partners, where displaced people have reportedly been present for several months.

• The hygiene and sanitation coverage is below 10% in sites around BagaSola,
  Ngouboua, Liwa and Bol.

• In September, protection monitoring identified 78 cases of human rights violations.

89,010 Displaced people registered since May 2015.

Including:

• 76,225 internally displaced people

• 12,464 Chadian returnees

• 321 third-country nationals

Source: Shelter /NFI/ CCCM cluster - IOM (Displacement Tracking Matrix 03/10/2016).

35,755 Estimated displaced people*, not yet registered.

Source: Shelter /NFI/ CCCM cluster - IOM (Displacement Tracking Matrix 03/10/2016).

6,994 Refugees, including 5,422 residing in Dar-es-Salam camp arrived since January 2015.

Source: HCR/CNARR (30/09/2016).

Background

The security situation has deteriorated in the border areas of the Lac region, due to an increase in incidents since the end of July, including attacks against villages and cattle thefts. During the reporting period, several incidents took place near Kaiga, Tchoukoutalia and Digou, and led to the death of a dozen military personnel and cattle theft. From August to September, more than 5,000 cattle were allegedly stolen and brought to Nigeria. Furthermore, there is an upsurge in incidents related to explosive devices in Kaiga Kinjiria sub-prefecture, with the discovery of mines, as well as an explosion of one of them on 26 August that resulted in the death of four military personnel. The presence of mines is a risk for the populations affected by the crisis, stressing the importance of awareness-raising and mine risk education.

Moreover, this fragile situation has restricted humanitarian access. Following the incidents, several organizations have temporarily suspended their operations in border areas, especially on Kaiga Kinjiria, Boma and Tchoukoutalia sites, depriving about 14,000 displaced people of assistance.
However, some partners such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have delivered assistance in Kaiga Kinjiria sub-prefecture through state services (Regional Department for Social Affairs - DRAS - National Commission for the Reception and Reinsertion of Refugees and Returnees - CNARR -) and local organizations (ACHUDE, Chadian Red Cross). According to regional authorities, necessary measures are being taken to secure the area and to allow the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance on the Liwa-Daboua axis, as well as in Kaiga Kinjiria, Ngouboua and Tchoukoutalia.

This security situation could have negative consequences for the protection of vulnerable people. An increase in protection incidents related to human rights violations has been observed in August. Moreover, the fragile security situation could have a negative impact on the social ties and peaceful coexistence of communities, causing an increase in intercommunity tensions, stigma and psychosis (assimilation of all crime banditry incidents to violent acts by armed groups). This can also lead to secondary displacements forced by attacks and / or a feeling of insecurity.

Syntèse par pays

Au Niger, la tendance générale de l’évolution des prix des céréales est à la baisse pour les céréales sèches et à la stabilité pour le riz. Seul le prix du maïs a connu une légère hausse sur le marché de Tillabéry (+2%). Les baisses ont été enregistrées : i) pour le mil à Maradi (-32%), à Niamey (-23%), à Dosso (-15%), à Zinder (-14%), à Tillabéry (-12%) et à Agadez (-4%) ; ii) pour le sorgho à Maradi (-18%), à Zinder (-13%), à Dosso (-11%) et à Tillabéry (-4%) ; iii) pour le maïs à Agadez (-8%), à Zinder et Tillabéry (-4%), iv) pour le riz à Niamey (-5%) et à Agadez (-4%).

Au Mali, la tendance générale de l’évolution des prix des céréales sur les marchés est à la stabilité pour toutes les céréales et sur tous les marchés, excepté celui de Bamako qui affiche des baisses. Seul le mil a enregistré une hausse à Gao (+3%). Les baisses sont observées à Bamako pour : le riz importé (-2%), le mil (-5%), le sorgho (-10%) et le maïs (-12%) et à Kayes pour le maïs (-3%). Ailleurs, les prix sont stables pour les différents produits.

Au Burkina, la tendance générale de l’évolution des prix des céréales est à la stabilité voire à la baisse pour les céréales sèches sur certains marchés. Seul le prix du mil a enregistré une hausse de +3% sur le marché de Kongoussi. Les baisses ont été enregistrées : i) pour le mil sur les marchés de Fada (-11%) et de Tenkodogo (-8%), ii) pour le sorgho sur les marchés de Bobo, Fada et Tenkodogo (-6%) et celui de Nouna (-3%) et iii) pour le maïs à Ouagadougou (-6%) et à Fada (-3%).

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$161 million of humanitarian assistance to Niger since the beginning of 2016.

• As of 11 October 2016, only US$11,500 has been reported in response to the Rift Valley Fever outbreak in Niger.

• The UN-coordinated appeal for Niger1 requests US$260 million. It is currently 44% funded at US$116 million.

2. Recent humanitarian funding to Niger

Donors have committed or contributed US$161 million to Niger so far in 2016. The ECHO DFID contribution is the largest donor to Niger in 2016 with commitments/contributions of US$30.9 million – 19% of total funding to Niger this year; followed by the EU Institutions (US$26.7 million); and the US (US$23.9 million). These top three donors represent 51% of total funding to Niger in 2016.

3. Recent funding to the Rift Valley Fever outbreak

According to UN OCHA FTS data, just under US$11,500 has been provided by Canada to support the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ emergency relief operations in Niger for the response to the Rift Valley Fever outbreak.

4. Appeals and response plans

The UN-coordinated appeal for Niger2 requests US$260 million from donors to respond to the needs of people in Niger. The same amount is included under the Sahel regional appeal.3 The Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Niger is currently 44% funded at US$116 million. This represents the lowest volume of funding and proportion of requirements met for the Niger HRP within the last five years. Once committed/contributed, outstanding pledges to the appeal of US$9.0 million would bring the proportion of requirements met up to 48%. A further US$45.3 million has been committed/contributed outside of the appeal.

• 274.0 M required for 2016

• 82.1 M contributions received, representing 30% of requirements

• 191.9 M funding gap for West Africa

• 107.2 M required for 2016

• 28.8 M contributions received, representing 27% of requirements

• 78.3 M funding gap for the Nigeria situation

Located on the edge of the desert, the Sahelian belt hasn't seen rain in months. For many who live there, it is a struggle to feed their families. In the North Kanem region of Chad, the most vulnerable populations depend on World Food Programme (WFP) food distributions. These food distributions are not only life-saving; they are also a source of hope.

The lean season is the period between harvests when food stocks are depleted. Food is therefore scarcer and the risk of malnutrition is substantially higher. During this period, food distributions are ever more vital. The European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations is one of the donors making this assistance possible.

By Nathalie Magnien, WFP Communications officer in Chad

The Sahel region of Chad is a desert that cuts right through the centre of the country for thousands of kilometres. The last time the region experienced rainfall was in September 2015, a distant memory for many of the people living there.

Due to such harsh climatic conditions, half the population — some two million people — face hunger. More than a quarter of the population struggle to provide food for their families and are therefore in need of urgent food assistance. Malnutrition rates are above 15%, an alarmingly high rate, which is well above the emergency threshold of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Haoua Abdallah is a 48 year-old widow and mother of eight. She lives in Barkadroussou, which is situated around 80 kilometres from Mao, the main city of Kanem. She used to have goats and sheep, which provided much needed milk and a source of income. When her children fell ill due to poor living conditions, she had no choice but to sell most of her livestock in order to pay for medication for her children. "Now I only have four goats and it's really difficult to provide for my family," she said.

Haoua, like many living in Chad, has suffered from the impact of an erratic rainy season in the Sahel. Additionally, the repercussions of insecurity and instability in the Lake Chad region exacerbate the livelihoods for many. Many pastoralists in Kanem rely on selling their cattle in Nigeria but now find their livelihoods at stake after the border was closed due to violence by Boko Haram.

Through food distributions, Haoua received cereals, pulses, oil, sugar and salt. She knows that without this assistance, life would be harder.

With support from the EU, WFP and its partners are providing food during the lean season in Kanem to 5 500 people. The EU is also currently financing the distribution of highly nutritional products to prevent malnutrition for 3 200 children from 6 to 23 months and for 1 300 nursing and pregnant women.

Fatime Sinine is a mother of seven children, and also a widow. "Thanks to this food assistance we can face the lean season and my children's food is more diverse and more nutritious."

Providing options between grains and nutrient-rich foods is especially important for these families. Fatime and Haoua can have peace of mind knowing that their children have access to a wholesome diet. The result is that their children are given the opportunity to grow stronger, be healthier, and have a better chance at life.

For Haoua and Fatime, overcoming the lean season is one challenge they are determined to win for the sake of their children's future.

Last updated
18/10/2016

HIGHLIGHTS

• 6,373 refugee returnees have benefitted from facilitation assistance for their voluntary return to Mali since Jan 2016.

• 625 mud shelters and traditional shelters built since Jan 2016 to help returnees, IDPs and host community members return to safety and dignity in the privacy of a home.

• 6,016 refugee returnees have received a one-time cash assistance in 2016 to support their selfdetermined basic needs.

• 89% of primary school urban refugee children received satisfactory marks to advance to the next grade level.

MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS AND CHALLENGES

• The security situation in the north and central regions of Mali remains fragile amid the slow implementation of the 2015 Peace and Reconciliation Accord. While armed conflict is not expected to resume, the growing threat of terrorism and persistent criminality is having a serious impact on humanitarian access to persons of concern in the north. Moreover, elevated intercommunity tensions continue to impede the voluntary returns of Malian refugees.

• Despite the volatile security situation, UNHCR has facilitated the voluntary return of nearly 6,373 Malian refugees from the asylum countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania since January 2016.

• In an effort to reduce the risk of statelessness and strengthen the protection of stateless persons, the Malian government officially acceded to the 1954 and the 1961 conventions on statelessness in May 2016.

• Mali, Mauritania and UNHCR signed a Tripartite Agreement for the voluntary return of Malian refugees living in Mauritania on 16 June 2016

MAROUA, CAMEROON — Aid agencies are sounding the alarm about severe food insecurity throughout northern Cameroon as a result of the Boko Haram conflict.

This month, 70 children suffering from malnutrition have needed medical attention at the Minawao refugee camp. However, says nurse Irene Mbarga, the hospital has limited resources to treat them.

The families are not able to provide enough food, she says, and malnutrition is making other health conditions worse.

Mbarga told VOA that about three quarters of the cases the hospital sees are related to malnutrition. When the hospital is running short on supplies, she says, the staff can only provide first aid.

The Minawao camp is home to more than 50,000 refugees, a majority of them women and children. More displaced people live in host communities.

Dr. Abdoul Mustapha of the Cameroon medical council in Mokollo, far northern Cameroon, says local residents also have been bringing their children to the refugee camp hospital. Local health clinics are not set up to deal with malnutrition.

The rate of simple malnutrition has increased from 7 percent last year to nearly 12 percent now, Mustapha says. Cases of severe acute malnutrition also are on the rise, signaling an emergency.

Cameroon's Ministry of Public Health and the United Nations say more than 100,000 children in northern Cameroon currently suffer from acute malnutrition.

This part of Cameroon was already grappling with high rates of chronic malnutrition, as much as 30 percent among children, before the Boko Haram conflict arrived in 2014. The mass displacement, including the influx of refugees from neighboring countries, has only made the situation worse. In addition, insecurity has made farming impossible in some areas, while herders have lost their animals to insurgents.

"The situation of malnutrition, or food insecurity, reflects not only the fact that we are not able to grow sufficient or enough food, but we do not have the access to that and we do not have sufficient means in order to maintain access to health services, in order to maintain and address young people when they have diarrhea, for example,” said Barbara Sow, the Cameroon representative of the U.N. Fund for Population Assistance.

“So the challenge for the U.N. is making the link between a humanitarian response today, bringing it food so that young children and families can eat today, but making sure that they have the means by which tomorrow, they are not in the same position," she added.

$4 million Africa Solidarity Trust Fund grant aims to help countries strengthen job creation

19 October 2016, Rome - FAO and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) have joined forces to increase job and business opportunities for young people in rural areas of Benin, Cameroon, Malawi and Niger through a $4 million grant made available by the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund.

The agreement signed today by FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA) Chief Executive Officer, Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, will help the four countries involved draw up and implement policies that seek to boost the development of enterprises in rural areas, including through the transfer of knowledge and skills.

"This joint effort seeks to promote decent rural youth employment and entrepreneurship in agriculture and agribusiness, and it represents another important example of an Africa-led cooperation initiative that seeks to safeguard food security and livelihoods in the continent," Graziano da Silva said.

"Attaining Africa's Agenda 2063 aspirations to a large extent depends on the transformation of rural areas supported by capacitated young entrepreneurs along the food chain," Mayaki said.

Project funds will be used over a three year period, and will serve to ensure that young people, in particular women, gain greater access to the rural economy. This includes the creation of decent jobs, both in the farming and non-farming sectors through public-private investments.

The project objectives are in line with the 2014 Malabo Declaration through which African Union leaders pledged to achieve a set of goals in the agriculture sector by 2025. One of these is to increase youth employment in Africa's rural areas by 30 percent, especially through the strengthening of agriculture value chains, while another was to prioritize and support livelihood and income generating opportunities for women and the rural youth.

Concrete outcomes

The project will ensure that Benin, Cameroon, Malawi and Niger have in place national action plans on youth employment and skills development in rural economic value chains. In addition each country will pilot a set of Youth Capacity Development Projects.

Another wider objective is to improve policy dialogue among countries, regional organizations, development and resource partners to forge a coordinated approach to decent youth employment and entrepreneurship in Africa.

Africans for Africans

The Africa Solidarity Trust Fund was launched in 2013 as a unique Africa-led initiative to improve agriculture and food security across the continent. It includes contributions from Equatorial Guinea ($30 million), Angola ($10 million) and a symbolic contribution by civil society organizations in the Republic of the Congo.

Since its inception, the Fund has already provided financing for 16 projects in 38 countries including building resilience for conflict affected rural communities, reducing rural poverty through youth employment opportunities and building best practices to increase crop and livestock production.

Contact

Peter Mayer
FAO Media Relations (Rome)
(+39) 06 570 53304
peter.mayer@fao.org

Highlights

• High levels of malnutrition, malaria and spread of communicable diseases in newly accessible areas in North East Nigeria are the main health risks. With detection of fourth case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in Monguno in Borno State on 4 October, further spread of polio virus is a significant public health concern.

• UNICEF in collaboration with partners has achieved 42 per cent, 79 per cent and 51 per cent of access to water, sanitation and hygiene promotion targets, respectively.

• In total 93,148 SAM children, have been admitted to therapeutic feeding programme in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

• Psychosocial support has reached 157,583 children among whom 84,311 children are benefitting from education services in a protective and safe learning environment.

• Over 2.77 million people among the affected population have access to UNICEF supported primary healthcare (PHC) services.

• The revised Nigeria 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) is only 24 per cent funded. UNICEF has received only 25 per cent of its appeal requirements of USD 115 million.

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

The findings of the UN-led inter-agency assessment mission to two newly accessible areas of Dikwa and Mafa on 27 September, highlight acute levels of malnutrition, malaria and communicable diseases in these areas. According to WHO, the number of reported measles cases are on the rise in conflict affected areas in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa; 846 cases are reported in Borno, 2,510 cases are reported in Yobe and 273 reported in Adamawa state. Since August 2016, four cases of polio have been confirmed in three LGAs of Borno state, these include: Gwoza, Monguno and Jere with a recent case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) detected in Monguno on 4 October. The risk of further spread of wild poliovirus in inaccessible areas of Borno state is a significant public health concern.1 To contain the outbreak, the third round of polio campaign will be undertaken from 15 to 18 October. The immunization campaign is being delivered by government, with support from UNICEF, WHO and partners. During this round, more than 30 million children will receive oral polio vaccine (OPV) in 18 high risk states across Nigeria, including 3.5 million children in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. The UNICEF-trained Social Mobilisation Network (consisting of 16,000 persons) is in place to create demand for the vaccine. The polio vaccination campaigns are integrated with childhood nutrition screening as part of UNICEF’s scaled-up response to the crisis.

UNICEF Health and Nutrition teams participated in a one-day joint mission with WFP to Banki, Bama LGA on 7 October and visited various facilities in the camp including schools, PHC centres, WASH facilities and conducted some focus group discussions with IDPs. This provided an opportunity to also monitor the quality of health and nutrition services provided to more than 32,000 people residing in and out of IDP camps in Banki.

UNHCR is conducting screening for needs and vulnerability in newly accessible areas in Monguno, Bama, Damboa, Dikwa, Konduga, Mafa, Magumeri and Shani, Borno state. According to their initial findings, there is a high level of vulnerability among displaced people, with nearly every family affected and individualsstill fearing that the insurgency group could attack them again. In Monguno, more than 60,000 displaced people are living in nine sites, where they urgently need humanitarian assistance. More people continue to arrive as military operations against Boko Hakam continue in northern part of Borno. Food shortages are a major concern in sites in Monguno e.g. Kuya site, where nearly 7,500 people are living in dilapidated school buildings and makeshift shelters. Severe acute malnutrition among children is also a major concern in these areas. Most of this population is unlikely to return to their home villages because of continuing insecurity, disrupted economic activity and presence of land mines in their villages and fields.

The twelfth round of Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) assessments across six states has been completed in September 2016. Results will be published by the end of October.2 According to IOM’s recent biometric registration of displaced persons in the three affected states, 363,245 IDPs (103,638 households) have been biometrically registered in Adamawa (90,203), Borno (251,841) and Yobe (21,201) states, as of 30 September 2016. The vast majority of IDPs who have been registered live in host communities where little or no assistance has been provided.

The revised funding requirement for Nigeria’s 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) is $484 million up from $279 million. As of 3 October $116 million, or 24 per cent, of the funds had been received.3

Un don de 4 millions de dollars du Fonds fiduciaire de solidarité africain vise à renforcer la création d’emplois dans ces pays

19 octobre 2016, Rome - La FAO et le Nouveau partenariat pour le développement de l'Afrique (NEPAD) unissent leurs forces en vue d'améliorer les opportunités commerciales et d'emplois des jeunes en milieu rural au Bénin, au Cameroun, au Malawi et au Niger, et ce, grâce à un don de 4 millions de dollars octroyé par le Fonds fiduciaire de solidarité africain.

L'accord signé aujourd'hui par le Directeur général de la FAO, M. José Graziano da Silva et le Secrétaire executif de l'Agence de planification et de coordination (APCN) du Nouveau partenariat pour le developpement de l'Afrique (NEPAD), M. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, aidera les quatre pays concernés à concevoir et à mettre en œuvre des politiques destinées à stimuler l'entreprenariat en milieu rural, à travers notamment le transfert de connaissances et de compétences.

«Cet effort commun vise à promouvoir des emplois décents chez les jeunes en milieu rural et l'entreprenariat dans les secteurs agricole et de l'agro-alimentaire. Il s'agit d'un autre exemple important d'initiative de coopération menée par l'Afrique dont l'objectif est de garantir la sécurité alimentaire et les moyens d'existence sur le continent», a déclaré M. José Graziano da Silva, Directeur général de la FAO.

Les fonds alloués pour la mise en œuvre du projet, qui se déroulera sur trois ans, serviront à s'assurer que les jeunes, et surtout les femmes, bénéficient d'un meilleur accès à l'économie rurale. Cela inclut la création d'emplois décents, à la fois dans le secteur agricole et non-agricole, grâce à des investissements publics et privés.

Les objectifs du projet correspondent à la Déclaration de Malabo de 2014 , où les chefs d'Etats membres de l'Union Africaine se sont engagés à réaliser une série d'objectifs liés au secteur agricole d'ici à 2025. L'un d'entre eux consiste à augmenter le taux d'emploi de 30 pour cent chez les jeunes africains en milieu rural, au travers notamment du renforcement des chaînes de valeur agricoles, tandis qu'un autre consiste à soutenir les moyens d'existence et les activités génératrices des revenus chez les femmes et les jeunes en milieu rural, et à en faire une priorité.

Des résultats concrets

Le projet s'assurera que le Bénin, le Cameroun, le Malawi et le Niger ont mis en place des plans d'action nationaux visant à améliorer l'emploi des jeunes et le développement des compétences au sein des chaînes de valeur de l'économie rurale. En outre, chaque pays sera amené à conduire des projets pilotes liés au développement des capacités chez les jeunes.

Un autre de ces objectifs réside dans l'amélioration du dialogue politique entre les pays, les organisations régionales et les partenaires spécialisés dans le développement et les ressources afin d'élaborer une approche concertée destinée à promouvoir l'entreprenariat, ainsi que des emplois décents chez les jeunes en Afrique.

Les africains au service de l'Afrique

Le Fonds fiduciaire de solidarité africain a été lancé en 2013. Placé sous l'égide de l'Afrique, il vise à améliorer l'agriculture et la sécurité alimentaire à travers le continent.

Son financement est assuré par la Guinée équatoriale (30 millions de dollars), l'Angola (10 millions de dollars) et par un groupe d'organisations de la société civile de la République du Congo.

Depuis son lancement, le Fonds a déjà financé 16 projets dans 38 pays en aidant à renforcer la résilience des communautés rurales affectées par les conflits et en contribuant à réduire la pauvreté rurale grâce à l'amélioration des opportunités d'emploi chez les jeunes et à la promotion de meilleures pratiques afin d'accroître les rendements et la production animale.

Contact

Peter Mayer
Relations presse, FAO (Rome)
(+39) 06 570 53304
peter.mayer@fao.org

First Foreign Minister Steinmeier in Nigeria, then Nigerian President Buhari in Germany: At the beginning of October, German politics on Africa was busy on migration and refugee issues in West Africa, especially Nigeria. But the crisis of internally displaced people within Nigeria is far greater: more than 2 million refugees have lost their homes because of the terror war of Boko Haram. Mausi Segun, Head of Human Rights Watch in Nigeria, warns in this interview with the HBS that the conflict continues to smolder despite the success stories announced by the Nigerian government.

Mausi Segun: Because of the number of people affected, we have to classify this conflict into the highest global category of refugee crises. It is not about the whole country of Nigeria, but the conflict in the north-east reaches as far as the neighboring countries and refugee flows move between Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Boko Haram and the “scorched earth” tactics (a military strategy that targets anything that might be useful to the enemy, editor’s note) of the armies of these countries force many people into camps, and it is only a matter of time when starvation will also threaten them.

HBS: How does the famine cited in the media looks like on the ground?

Mausi Segun: The famine in the northeast is serious. I met a mother of four in a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Maiduguri (the capital city of Borno State, editor’s note) who exhausted the bowl of corn shared to her and her children after four days and did not know when the next bowl would come – perhaps the next day, maybe next week. Worse off are the singles in the camps, because they get a smaller ration. Unaccompanied orphans usually get nothing - because you have to know someone to get the ticket for the food supply. The government has finally taken steps to change from the communal sharing of foodstuff to direct distribution to individuals in IDP camps.

The UN organizations are talking about about 65,000 people who are in danger of dying of hunger. There could be more. Where to draw the line? Many people might not die of hunger, but perhaps they just manage to survive. It is not only the IDPs, but also the host communities, villages and families who share the little that they have with the displaced people and thus might face starvation themselves. Nigeria needs much more capacity to deal with a problem of this size.

What is the Nigerian government doing?

Mausi Segun: The Nigerian government deliberately understates the crisis because it does not want any observers on the ground to find out what is really going on. The conflict is not over. Though the intensity of the war has reduced, Boko Haram continues to attack and control areas, especially in the north of Borno State.

But there is no political will to really deal with the humanitarian crisis and solve it. Look at the government's response to the security situation in Maiduguri: for a year now, the IDPs are kept in the camps, their freedom of movement is restricted, they are often not allowed to leave the camp, and other people are not allowed to enter. These IDPs are practically imprisoned in the fenced camps, in order to give a picture of peace and normality in the rest of the city. The narrative of the government is that the conflict is actually over – but for many people this is not so because they continue to be exposed to the attacks of Boko Haram.

The speed with which the government is sending people back home is not matched by the military preparations for their return. Ironically, the military evacuates entire villages and communities to reduce the possibility of Boko Haram fighters hiding there to launch attacks. Human Rights Watch is currently investigating allegations that the army completely destroys and sets buildings in these re-captured communities on fire. The army's success stories on television often show fire in the background, while the speaker explains that a region has been liberated from Boko Haram. I would just like to know the reasons for this "scorched earth" strategy: it is not just that it will delay reconstruction and make it more expensive. If the allegations are confirmed, such incidents might qualify as war crimes.

Since Medecins Sans Frontieres discovered the famine in Bama in April of this year, the number of humanitarian relief efforts has increased. When the military gave access to Bama, the situation improved somewhat. The army has also opened up access for humanitarian actors to reach Dikwa in the far north of Borno State.

But what happens outside these cities? Where the military evacuated the people to settle them in so-called temporary satellite centers? Who has access here? Who assesses the needs of people here? A report by the UN and the Borno Protection Sector Working Group of April 2016 not only stated the humanitarian shortcomings, but also the human rights violations in the northern states. This crisis cannot be addressed with money alone.

The majority of the refugees are not in the camps ... Mausi Segun: Only 8 to 12 percent of refugees are in the camps. The bigger problem is the host communities and villages that have absorbed the almost 2 million refugees who are not living in the camps. The villagers often do not know about humanitarian aid, and the aid organizations have no knowledge of the refugees in those locations. There seems to be no mapping, or central register. Here the lack of coordination in reaching IDPs in host communities is serious.

What kind of coordination is needed?

There are a lot of actors in the region: donor organizations, the government, international humanitarian aid organizations and the UN organizations, but very little action reaches the victims of the crisis, especially those in host communities.

The food shortage in the IDP camps is horrific, people have nothing ... At the same time, there are reports that stores of the provincial government of Borno State agency in charge of relief material distribution, are filled up to the roof with rice, grains and even blankets and hygiene articles. But then there were media reports on the sale of relief supplies on local markets. As long as the government cannot correct this situation, donors should not channel relief funds through the government but rather to humanitarian organizations working directly with the IDPs. UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) and UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) are on-site and work with local staff, but also lack adequate funds. For example, new sick rooms are built, but then there is not enough funding for medicine and materials.

Donors and foreign governments who offers funds for emergency relief should insist on an effective monitoring system. It might be better if the funds are given to those organizations that really work on the ground. These include national and international organizations, such as the UN, the Red Cross and Nigerian NGOs. Since the IDPs protested the lack of relief materials in IDP camps in August, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) decided not to supply the food and other materials via the provincial government of Borno State but to hand them directly to the IDPs. This is a sign of the failure of the state government of Borno State.

Is the release of 21 Chibok girls happy news?

Mausi Segun: It is indeed a positive development. It is an incident that rekindles hope for the families of the other girls who remain in Boko Haram captivity. The other aspect is, and I would like to put this carefully, but that is not easy ... that the government says there was no deal for the release of the 21 Chibok girls. But this may not be the whole truth, because media reports claim that local people confirm that at least 4 high-ranking Boko Haram fighters have been released in return. As much as we all want all the Chibok girls and the other hundreds of girls and women who have been abducted by Boko Haram to be released, the question to be asked is at what price? If these fighters are released in exchange for the girls, it means they will not be subjected to the de-radicalization process for Boko Haram defectors, but they are likely to fight again and thus fuel the conflict. How would the government weigh the lives of the 21 Chibok against the future casualties of these fighters, and decide on which achieves a positive image for the government?

How do you assess the clashes between the Shiite group Islamic Movement of Nigeria and the military plus civilian population in some Northern Nigerian cities?

The attitude towards the Shiites is a sign of growing intolerance in Nigeria. We have already seen this in the government's reactions to the Biafra protesters in the south-east of the country, and in December 2015, during the initial clashes between the army and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN, the Shia umbrella organization in Nigeria), where 347 members of the IMN and one soldier were killed. Since then, nearly 200 IMN members have been standing trial because of the death of the soldier, while no one is being tried for the death of the IMN members. According to the report of a judicial commission of inquiry set up by the Kaduna state government, the Shiites are responsible for the deaths of their own members. Their leader has been in custody since the December 2015 clashes, without charges and court trial. The MNI was banned in Kaduna State in early October, just before the annual Shiite festival, as recommended by the Committee of Inquiry. However, this cannot be reconciled with the constitution of Nigeria, which promises freedom of religion.

At the time of the religious festival in mid-October, there were clashes in several states after the local governments who had not banned the IMN, decided to ban their religious processions. It looks like those state governments are riding on a popular wave of intolerance by majority Sunni Muslims against Shi’ites in northern Nigeria. This risks pushing the group underground and into radicalization. One of the factors driving the initial recruitment of Boko Haram was the resentment of the followers and their sense of injustice against the brutal government crackdown of the group: the then leader, Mohammed Yusuf, was killed in police custody in 2009 along with hundreds of supporters. I hope that the German government can urge President Buhari that a heavy handed crack down of protests or dissenters never works. It is time to look back and learn from the mistakes of the past – but then, Boko Haram is not yet in the past, but still in the present!

The interview was conducted by Christine K, office manager of the office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Nigeria, Abuja.

Goz Beida– Le Bureau du Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les refugies, le HCR, et son partenaire APLFT, ont organisé les 13 et 14 octobre 2016 le Forum sur l’accès à la justice pour débattre des maux qui minent le bon fonctionnement de la justice et dégager des pistes de solutions afin de restaurer la confiance des justiciables. Ce forum est le fruit d’un développement important intervenu dans le secteur judiciaire régional et d’un constat.

En effet, la justice de paix de la région de Sila a été érigée en Tribunal de Grande Instance par décret No 001 signé le 07/01/2016 par le Président de la République affectant ainsi deux magistrats professionnels dont un Procureur de la République et un Président du Tribunal. Il faut rappeler qu’avant ladite création, les conflits étaient gérés par le Juge de Paix de Goz Beida, les Sous-Préfets, les commandants de brigades, les chefs traditionnels et religieux.

Par ailleurs, malgré les efforts fournis par l’UNHCR et ses partenaires APLFT et CNARR pour le respect de la procédure judiciaire, les problèmes de détentions prolongées dans les brigades dans des conditions inhumaines et de paiement d’amendes arbitraires persistent.

Prenant la parole à l’ouverture du forum qui s’est tenu dans les locaux du Tribunal en présence des autorités administratives, militaires, civiles et des réfugiés, Mme Peggy Pentshia-Maneng, Cheffe de la Sous-Délégation de l’UNHCR Goz-Beida, a mentionné dans son intervention qu’ « au cours de ce Forum, nous apprendrons des praticiens du Droit ce qui est légalement acceptable et ce qui ne l’est pas. La responsabilité du HCR est de rappeler les dispositions qui existent pour rendre une justice équitable à tous, y compris aux réfugiés ».

Nigeria faces immense humanitarian and protection challenges due to the ongoing insurgency in the North East. The conflict has caused grave human rights violations, impacting particularly on the most vulnerable civilians. As of August 2016, there are 2,093,030 persons internally displaced in the North East and North Central regions, with 83% of the displacements originating from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States as a result of the insurgency. 50,706 vulnerable households comprised of 133,294 individuals have been identified in the North East, including many households with women, children and elderly with serious protection risks. 22,098 registered Nigerians in Adamawa, including many who fled due to the insurgency, have returned back from Cameroon of which 54% are children, 46% are women, and 98% originated from Borno. An additional 90,572 Nigerian returnees from Cameroon have been registered by UNHCR in Gamboru Ngala in Borno State. 24,045 Nigerian returnees from Niger have been registered in Gashua and Geidam LGAs in Yobe in September 2016. Nigeria has a refugee population of 1,250 individuals and 511 asylum seekers, located mainly in Lagos.