New Year; New Beginnings...The Coordination Upsurge - Facilitating The Scale-up

18th of December 2016

• Marked the arrival of the second consignment of materials for the construction of Humanitarian hubs, enabling accommodation for over 100 staff of International Non-Governmental organizations and UN agencies currently in Maiduguri, the epicenter of the crisis.
The benefits of the hubs supersede accommodation, as it possesses several facilities, which include storage spaces for relief aid, conference room and a medical center for the community. The hubs are a key enabler in scaling up of 2017 operations.

February 5, 2017 (JUBA) – Members of South Sudan’s armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) have warned of what they described as a humanitarian “catastrophic” in Unity state, if aid workers operating in the area fail to respond to needs of the people affected by war.

The spokesperson for rebels in the area, James Yoach Biding, said Koch, Leer and Rubkotna counties were the areas worst-affected by the current crisis.

According to Yoach, those who fled fighting and sought refuge in the bushes for several months, no longer have access to humanitarian assistance, and this has put their lives at risk of famine.

“If there will be no quick humanitarian intervention, the areas of Koch, Leer and Rubkona counties shall have the worst humanitarian conditions record. You know that since last year, government forces devastated these locations by burning down house, looting properties and destroying health facilities,” he told Sudan Tribune.

Thousands of people, aid agencies say, fled their homes in the aftermath of clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those allied to the country’s former First Vice-President, Riek Machar.

Yoach said those displaced by fighting lacked food, medicine and other essential items and have now been surviving on wild fruits and leaves for months in the bush.

Members of the armed opposition are now appealing for quick humanitarian intervention especially in remote areas before the situation is out of control.

(ST)

Highlights

• In 2017, UNICEF is requesting US$ 146.9 million to reach more than four million people, including 2.1 million children. Funds available amounts to US$ 38.8 million representing a 74 per cent funding gap.

• In January 2017, more than 6,700 children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) were treated in the 2 north eastern States.

• Emergency PHC services reached 419,397 people in the three most affected States in the Northeast; and a total of 3.3 million children were immunized against Measles in Borno (2.6 million), Yobe (over 535,000) and Adamawa (176,000).

• A total of 11,260 people gained access to safe water and 20,795 people accessed improved sanitation facilities.

• Psychosocial support was provided to 9,749 conflict affected children, while 500 unaccompanied and separated children and 260 children and women associated with armed groups or victims of SGBV received specialised services.

• A total of 118,500 children were enrolled and gained access to education in a safe learning environment, and 2,500 children benefitted from learning materials.

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

In December 2016, the IOM’s Data Tracking Mechanism (DTM), Round XIII reported that 1.6 million people remain internally displaced, of whom 55 per cent are children, including 8.2 per cent being infants under one year old. Despite a relatively improved security conditions in newly accessible areas, 76 per cent of IDPs do not want to return to their homes unless their security can be guaranteed. The provision of basic services has been profoundly disrupted by the conflict as public infrastructures have been destroyed and public servants have left to take refuge in safer areas. Massive rehabilitation and reconstruction work is required to repair destroyed or damaged homes, hospitals and schools, to make IDP returns sustainable.

According to Fewsnet, populations in isolated and inaccessible areas of Northeast Nigeria may be facing an extreme food security situation (IPC Phase 5). Ongoing humanitarian interventions are preventing a severe food situation in IDP camps and host communities, but remain insufficient and outpaced by the scale of needs in Borno State, including in the newly accessible areas. In 2017, the risk of famine (IPC Phase 5) will remain high in inaccessible areas of Borno State.

On Education, one of the priority areas that the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and communities have identified is to address basic school infrastructure to enable resumption of formal schooling, particularly in newly accessible and return areas.

In the recently accessible areas, such as Dikwa, Damboa, Konduga, Mafa, Bama and Monguno, schools have insufficient classrooms and learning materials; limited teaching staff is also a critical challenge. IDPs and returnee children have been out of school and deprived of access to education for more than three years.

Author: Emmy Simmons

Project Director: Kimberly Flowers

A REPORT OF THE CSIS GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY PROJECT

Executive Summary

Sharp rises in global food prices in 2007/08 jolted global political leaders out of any complacency they might have had regarding the future of food and agriculture. Street demonstrations and food riots broke out in more than 40 countries across the world, provoking unrest and violence in several places.

The L’Aquila Food Security Initiative, launched by the G-8 and the G-20 in 2009, brought new funding and energy to the task of quelling the “perfect storm” of food insecurity set off by spiking global food and fuel prices, financial and commodity market turmoil, the competition of biofuel production, and adverse weather in key agricultural regions. The L’Aquila Food Security Initiative successfully reversed a decades-long decline in international support for agricultural development.

To implement the L’Aquila Initiative, programs were put in place across the developing world to increase agricultural productivity, strengthen smallholder farmer linkages to commercial markets, and ensure that youth, women, and marginalized populations were full participants in the growth of the sector. But as this work went forward, new threats to sustainable food security became apparent.
Changes in global weather patterns are now projected to have potentially devastating impacts on agriculture in the coming years and decades. The rising “double burden” of malnutrition already threatens to dampen global progress toward better health. Demographic change—a bulging population of youth in Africa and rapid urbanization—is creating opportunities for an economic growth spurt that will affect food demand and organized protests when food security is endangered. Food safety issues, economic and social inequities, and food price volatility are seen as persistent disrupters of food systems and food security. Outbreaks of civil unrest and violent conflict have deprived millions of reliable access to food and challenged their physical security and social cohesion. Whether these threats will combine to drive repeats of 2007/08’s “perfect storm” of food insecurity in the future is unknown. But it is predicted that, singly or together, they already pose critical risks—likely to erupt in “recurring storms”—somewhere around the globe.

The L’Aquila Initiative was brought to a close in 2012. But in 2015, “ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture” was adopted as one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be accomplished by 2030. Strong international collaboration to build more productive and resilient households, nations, and food systems—to help them withstand the likely recurring storms of hunger, food insecurity, and agricultural market volatility—seems like the obvious path forward.

However, there is little agreement on what approaches will work best to build greater productivity and resilience for food security. This is especially the case in countries and regions where vulnerable households live in extreme poverty or food systems have been disrupted by conflict. Further, the needed international high-level political commitments to providing additional financing and developing effective, evidence-based solutions—the heart of the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative—are not assured.

This report reviews the prospects for increasing food security at the scale and pace anticipated in the 2030 SDGs. The stories of three ongoing conflicts—in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Syria— vividly underscore the explosiveness of situations in which people are unable to get the food they want and need. The local and global responses to these crises also signal the magnitude, diversity, and complexity of actions that will be urgently required, post-conflict, to build food systems sufficiently resilient to provide vulnerable populations sufficient access to safe, affordable, and nutritious food.
The experiences of several post-conflict countries highlight some of the critical issues that must be prioritized in order to regain sustainable food security: building peace and stability, establishing effective institutions of governance relevant to food and agriculture, and, at the same time, addressing immediate nutritional needs as well as preparing to handle emerging threats to food and agriculture.
As countries and their development partners learned in their joint efforts to realize the goals of the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative, sustainable food security for all is not easily achieved. Even when national leaders are committed to pursuing market-based, inclusive agricultural growth as a clear pathway to improved food security, and there is relative peace and stability, many risks and uncertainties—storm clouds—loom on the horizon.

To meet the challenges of building more productive and resilient food systems in order to achieve food security for all, it is essential to renew and expand international collaboration in order to anticipate and prepare for recurring storms of food insecurity. In addition to following the L’Aquila example of high-level political commitment to a clear objective and the mobilization of an increased level of investments in food security, national and international political leaders should:

• Establish an annual high-level summit for reviewing progress on global food security;

• Work jointly to develop strategic plans that will enable populations in conflict-affected countries to recover and to strengthen their resilience to future threats to food security; and • Seek a better balance of effort among the many actors involved in food security.

Highlights

• The drought in the Horn of Africa is generating a humanitarian crisis in Somalia, with urgent needs also in Kenya and Ethiopia. The number of people in crisis and emergency food insecurity levels (Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) 3 or above) now stands at 11.2 million people, with 2.9 million in Somalia, 5.6 million in Ethiopia, and 2.7 million in Kenya.

• Global acute malnutrition (GAM) levels among children aged 6-59 months, pregnant women and nursing mothers remain a serious concern. Levels of over 25 percent GAM are being reported in some parts of Somalia.

• Governments are leading the planning, implementation and funding of the drought response in Kenya and Ethiopia, with support from humanitarian and development partners.

• This drought is evolving against a backdrop of escalating needs in South Sudan, with over 5 million people also in need of urgent assistance. This is in addition to over 1.2 million South Sudanese refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries.

Situation Update

• The deteriorating food security situation follows the effects of the 2015/2016 El Nino weather event, which caused drought leading to consecutive failed harvests. The situation is expected to deteriorate over the coming weeks as a weak La Niña event and a negative Indian Ocean Dipole have led to delayed and erratic rainfall in large parts of the region, most notably in southern Somalia, southern Ethiopia and parts of Kenya.

• Pasture and water resources are critically low across the region, resulting in significant livestock deaths and crop production losses in Ethiopia,
  Somalia and northern and coastal Kenya.

• In drought affected areas, cereal prices are rising, while livestock prices and casual labor wage levels are both decreasing due to poor livestock conditions and limited agricultural labor opportunities. As a result, household purchasing power is falling sharply.

• Inter-communal conflict is expected to rise in drought-affected areas as pastoralists trek further afield with their animals looking for water and grazing. Distress migration is being reported between Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan.

• There is growing pressure on the grain markets in Uganda as regional traders face diminishing availability, following the export bans that have taken effect in Tanzania and Kenya.

A joint programme by the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and their partners is supporting vulnerable community members receive financial compensation in exchange of work to construct infrastructure such as wells, and improve their skills in community gardening to improve their livelihoods.

It’s 5 o’clock in the afternoon as the smouldering heat of the day begins to ease, and a determined, active woman named Abung Koch is bustling back and forth in the community garden in the centre of Aweil. There is no time to waste, as this is the perfect time of day to get things done in the garden – first watering, followed by some weeding and finally the preparation of a new garden bed.

“I first planted cabbage over there,” Abung Koch says, pointing. “Before, I used to just put the seed in the ground, but now I’ve learned how to make a raised bed, which protects the seeds from the rain. I got a lot of knowledge from my facilitator, and when they gave me the tools and seeds, I planted tomato in the same way there. I now have three places, and this will be my fourth."

“Having the water close to this garden is good – before there was no water here and we had to rely on rain,” she adds.  “We eat most of the vegetables at home, but I also sell my tomatoes in the market.”

When asked about her future plans, she says, “My husband is old and cannot work, so in this way I can get some money and feed my six children. The people gave me some money to work here before, but now I am doing it myself. Before I did not know how to do this but after we got some help, I started. I would like to learn more – especially about pests, since some animals are attacking my things.”

“I hope we can continue this project so that we plant all this land,” she says, gesturing toward the open space behind her. “But first we need to build a fence, since the animals are coming in and eating our vegetables.”

Giving farmers opportunities

Koch’s story is not uncommon. Many people struggle to meet their food needs, but then, when given the opportunity, quickly learn the skills and see the benefits of having their own garden.

With funding from the United Kingdom, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are implementing a joint programme which has supported 77,820 farmers in the Bahr el-Gazal region of South Sudan by providing them financial compensation for their work in building and rehabilitating community-level productive assets, such as the well Koch worked on and the fence she is hoping to get. Offering people compensation for their work on common assets provides positive incentives and adds to the sustainability of the activities, as the community has a sense of ownership over the things they create.

This programme emphasizes the synergy of creating high-quality, relevant assets and the importance of the farmer field school approach, through which farmers who have received seed and tools participate in a series of hands-on training sessions that encourage the use of modern farming techniques. Farmers learn through demonstration plots and weekly supervision of their progress by technical experts, enhancing their opportunities to produce more food.

Building production capacity is critical

The Bahr el-Gazal area has been facing a long-term severe food crisis, as a structural deficit in production has resulted in many households relying on markets to meet their food needs. According to experts, the main drivers of this food crisis are mono-cropping of sorghum and poor agricultural practices, especially those linked to the ever increasing climate variability and extremes.

In addition, food prices have been rising astronomically, pushing food purchases out of reach for the poor and raising new vulnerabilities. This increase is due to the escalation of the national economic crisis, continued insecurity along the prominent trade routes, halted trade due to the border closure with Sudan, and fighting in certain areas of the state.

To help mitigate the impact of the food crisis in this area, it will be vital to increase farmers’ ability to cultivate a wider variety of crops, expand land size through communal farming and increase farmers’ knowledge of pests and diseases.

“We are working here together, and by helping each other we get stronger and better,” Koch concludes. “This year we are learning and want to keep learning so that we can produce more, because it is good for us and our families.”

• As of 31 January, United Nations Coordinated Appeals and Refugee Response Plans within the Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) require US$22.5 billion to meet the humanitarian needs of 93.5 million crisis-affected people in 33 countries. Needs and financial requirements have increased due the finalisation of five additional Humanitarian Response Plans (HRPs). Seventeen HRPs have been published so far. Together the appeals are funded at $77.2 million, leaving a shortfall of $22.4 billion.

• Timely funding is required to meet pressing needs in several countries. In Afghanistan, deepening conflict has resulted in a 13 per cent increase in the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance, now at 9.3 million people. Funding is urgently required early in the year to support the return of Afghans from Pakistan and of others displaced by conflict. Some 2.2 million people, or almost half the population of Central African Republic (CAR), urgently require humanitarian assistance, amid continuing insecurity and a steep decline in funding. Humanitarian partners are withdrawing from central CAR because of funding shortages and in the absence of funding, agencies may be forced to suspend food distributions in February.

• Continued low funding is hampering humanitarian partners’ ability to respond to the humanitarian needs of an estimated 3.7 million people in Mali. In Nigeria, aid organizations require funding to step up life-saving assistance in areas previously held by Boko Haram, where new needs are being revealed. In Somalia, drought-driven food insecurity and malnutrition could plummet to "famine" levels in the coming months. A new drought in the lowlands and in southern and eastern parts of Ethiopia is placing some 5.6 million Ethiopians at risk of hunger, threatening 300,000 children with malnutrition, over 9 million people with zero access to safe drinking water and 2.4 million farmers and herders with unsustainable livelihoods.
  Please see icon overleaf for information on other urgent funding needs.

• In January, the Emergency Relief Coordinator released $100 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to sustain aid operations in critically underfunded operations in Cameroon, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia and Uganda. These allocations will reach more than 6 million alarmingly vulnerable people in the throes of poorly funded crises. CERF also allocated $1.1 million to Mongolia to provide emergency agricultural and multi-purpose cash assistance for 3,500 herder households living the consequences of a particularly harsh winter. A further $6 million was allocated to the CAR to provide emergency food assistance to 36,800 people recently displaced by violence. CERF received $14.8 million in contributions for 2017, with $255.5 million in pledges.

• In 2017, OCHA aims to increase the amount of humanitarian appeal funding channelled through Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs) to 15 per cent, in keeping with the UN Secretary-General’s Agenda for Humanity. As of 31 January, seven countries had already pledged a combined $65 million to CBPFs, including $25.3 million for the Syria crisis (through CBPFs in Jordan, Syria and Turkey) and $24.4 million for Afghanistan.

BAMAKO – A groundbreaking study of the impact of child undernutrition on Mali’s economy has launched in Mali. The latest in a series known as the Cost of Hunger in Africa (COHA) surveys, it will examine the effects of child undernutrition on health, education and national productivity in the country. It is being made possible by the generous support of the Government of Canada.

COHA is a pan-African initiative led by the African Union Commission and the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA), with support from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

“Malnutrition kills,” said Boubou Cissé, Mali’s Minister of Economy and Finance. “And it kills a lot. The men and women who survive are affected for the rest of their lives. This is not only morally unacceptable, but means that vast amounts are lost for the national budget – for salaries, for road building, for all public investments. At stake is our national economic survival.”

According to results of the September 2016 survey using SMART methodology, some 26.2 percent of Malian children under five years old are stunted or have impaired growth as a result of undernutrition in the early stages of life.

“The 2063 Agenda – ‘The Africa That We Want’ – aspires to eliminate hunger and food insecurity completely,” said Margaret Agama-Anyetei, Head of Health, Population and Nutrition at the African Union Commission, as she urged strong engagement for Global Goal 2, to achieve “Zero Hunger.” For her part, Resident UN system coordinator Mbaranga Gasarabwe said improving food and nutritional security was essential for peace.

Mali is the sixteenth country on the continent to take part of the COHA study. It has already been undertaken in Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Swaziland and Uganda, and is ongoing in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritania, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

“The reality is that we cannot ensure sustainable development unless we tackle the challenges of food security and nutrition,” said Silvia Caruso, Director and Representative of WFP in Mali. “Malnutrition is no longer being seen just as a social problem, but as a major economic issue.”

Mali's participation in this initiative demonstrates the commitment and political will of its Government to effectively address child undernutrition in the country.

Previous COHA studies have revealed African economies to be losing the equivalent of between 1.9 and 16 percent of Gross Domestic Product every year because of the impact of child undernutrition.

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For more information, please contact:

Diakaridia Dembele, Point focal/Gouvernement du Mali, Email: gogoyodiak@yahoo.fr Tel: +223 66 86 93 86
Virgo Edgar Ngarbaroum, PAM/Bamako, Email: virgo.edgarngarbaroum@wfp.org Tel: +223 71 91 42 94
Andre Vornic, PAM/Dakar, Email: andre.vornic@wfp.org Tel: +221 77 639 4271
Janet Byaruhanga, African Union Commission, Email: byaruhangaj@africa-union.org
Wanja Kaaria, PAM/Addis Ababa, Email: wanja.kaaria@wfp.org Tel: +251-11-551-51

Web: www.costofhungerafrica.com

Follow us on: https://twitter.com/CostHunger @CostHunger, hashtag: #CostOfHungerInAfrica

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ADVOCACY & FUNDING

CERF ALLOCATES US$55 MILLION TO THE REGION

On 30 January, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) released US$49 million to assist over 3 million people in Nigeria ($22 million), Cameroon ($10 million), Niger ($10 million) and Mali ($7 million), as part of the 2017 first underfunded emergencies round. In the Central African Republic, US$ 6 million were released to support the humanitarian response to new food-related emergencies in the country. This will enable WFP to assist 36,800 people facing food insecurity in the Kaga Bandoro, Bambari and Bria areas following the successive crises that hit the region in recent months.

HUMANITARIAN CONFERENCE ON NIGERIA AND THE LAKE CHAD REGION

On 24 February in Oslo, the Government of Norway will host a humanitarian conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region, in partnership with the Governments of Germany and Nigeria. The conference aims to raise political and material support for the humanitarian response in the Lake Chad Basin region. Three thematic segments will focus on education, food security and protection/access. The conference will be preceded by a civil society forum on 23 February.

DR CONGO

53,000 DISPLACED FOUND WITH ACUTE NEEDS

An assessment led by humanitarian partners on 23-28 January in Moba territory in the country’s south-eastern Tanganyika region identified over 53,000 displaced persons, some requiring urgent food and WASH assistance. An assessment will take place in the province next week to identify ways to expand the response and prevent the rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation following a worsening of the inter-communal conflict that has been affecting the region over the past months.

NIGER

OVER 1,000 REFUGEES RELOCATED FROM TAZALIT

On 31 January, UNHCR completed a tenday operation to relocate 1,025 out of 3,600 targeted refugees from the Tazalit IDP camp, in the country’s western Tahoua region, to the Intikane hosting area further south. The location had been attacked by armed assailants in October 2016, resulting in the deaths of 22 Nigerien military officers. In November, the Government announced the closing of the site, giving the refugees the option to move to Intikane, where over 18,000 refugees are already hosted.

58 CAS DE MÉNINGITE

According to local health authorities, 58 suspected cases of meningitis, resulting in two deaths, were registered in Niger in January in the regions of Diffa and Agadez. With a lethality rate estimated at 3.4 per cent, the alert or epidemic thresholds have not yet been reached. During the same reporting period last year, some 155 cases and 15 deaths had been reported.

PLAIDOYER & FINANCEMENT

LE CERF ATTRIBUE 55 MILLIONS DE DOLLARS À LA RÉGION

Le 30 janvier, le Fonds central d'intervention d'urgence des Nations Unies (CERF) a débloqué 49 millions de dollars pour aider plus de 3 millions de personnes au Nigeria (22 millions de dollars), au Cameroun (10 millions de dollars), au Niger (10 millions de dollars) et au Mali (7 millions de dollars) dans le cadre de la première série d’allocation pour les urgence sous-financées en 2017. En République centrafricaine, 6 millions de dollars ont été débloqués pour soutenir la réponse humanitaire aux nouvelles urgences liées à l'alimentation dans le pays. Cela permettra au PAM d'aider 36 800 personnes confrontées à l'insécurité alimentaire dans les zones de Kaga Bandoro, Bambari et Bria à la suite des crises successives qui ont frappé la région ces derniers mois.

CONFÉRENCE HUMANITAIRE SUR LE NIGERIA ET LA RÉGION DU LAC TCHAD

Le Gouvernement norvégien accueillera le 24 février à Oslo une conférence humanitaire sur le Nigeria et la région du lac Tchad, en partenariat avec les gouvernements allemand et nigérian. La conférence vise à recueillir un soutien politique et matériel pour la réponse humanitaire dans la région du lac Tchad. Trois volets thématiques se concentreront sur l'éducation, la sécurité alimentaire et la protection/accès. La conférence sera précédée d'un forum de la société civile le 23 février.

RD CONGO

BESOINS AIGUS POUR 53 000 PERSONNES DÉPLACÉES

Une évaluation menée par des partenaires humanitaires du 23 au 28 janvier sur le territoire de Moba, dans la province sud-est du Tanganyika, a identifié plus de 53 000 personnes déplacées, certaines requérant une aide alimentaire urgente et une assistance WASH. Une évaluation aura lieu dans la province la semaine prochaine afin d'identifier les moyens d'accroître la riposte et d'empêcher la détérioration rapide de la situation humanitaire à la suite d'une aggravation du conflit intercommunautaire qui a touché la région au cours des derniers mois.

NIGER

PLUS DE 1 000 RÉFUGIÉS TRANSFÉRÉS DE TAZALIT

Le 31 janvier, le HCR a terminé une opération pour relocaliser 1 025 des 3 600 réfugiés ciblés du camp de déplacés de Tazalit, dans la région de Tahoua, à l’ouest du pays, jusqu'à la zone d'accueil d'Intikane plus au sud. Le camp avait été attaqué par des assaillants armés en octobre 2016, entraînant la mort de 22 officiers nigériens. En novembre, le gouvernement a annoncé la fermeture du site, donnant aux réfugiés la possibilité de déménager à Intikane, où plus de 18 000 réfugiés sont déjà hébergés.

58 CAS DE MÉNINGITE

Selon les autorités sanitaires locales, 58 cas suspects de méningite, entraînant deux décès, ont été enregistrés au Niger en janvier dans les régions de Diffa et d'Agadez. Avec un taux de létalité estimé à 3,4%, les seuils d'alerte ou d'épidémie n'ont pas encore été atteints. L’année dernière, au cours de la même période, environ 155 cas et 15 décès ont été signalés.

PLAIDOYER & FINANCEMENT

LE CERF ATTRIBUE 55 MILLIONS DE DOLLARS À LA RÉGION

Le 30 janvier, le Fonds central d'intervention d'urgence des Nations Unies (CERF) a débloqué 49 millions de dollars pour aider plus de 3 millions de personnes au Nigeria (22 millions de dollars), au Cameroun (10 millions de dollars), au Niger (10 millions de dollars) et au Mali (7 millions de dollars) dans le cadre de la première série d’allocation pour les urgence sous-financées en 2017. En République centrafricaine, 6 millions de dollars ont été débloqués pour soutenir la réponse humanitaire aux nouvelles urgences liées à l'alimentation dans le pays. Cela permettra au PAM d'aider 36 800 personnes confrontées à l'insécurité alimentaire dans les zones de Kaga Bandoro, Bambari et Bria à la suite des crises successives qui ont frappé la région ces derniers mois.

CONFÉRENCE HUMANITAIRE SUR LE NIGERIA ET LA RÉGION DU LAC TCHAD

Le Gouvernement norvégien accueillera le 24 février à Oslo une conférence humanitaire sur le Nigeria et la région du lac Tchad, en partenariat avec les gouvernements allemand et nigérian. La conférence vise à recueillir un soutien politique et matériel pour la réponse humanitaire dans la région du lac Tchad. Trois volets thématiques se concentreront sur l'éducation, la sécurité alimentaire et la protection/accès. La conférence sera précédée d'un forum de la société civile le 23 février.

RD CONGO

BESOINS AIGUS POUR 53 000 PERSONNES DÉPLACÉES

Une évaluation menée par des partenaires humanitaires du 23 au 28 janvier sur le territoire de Moba, dans la province sud-est du Tanganyika, a identifié plus de 53 000 personnes déplacées, certaines requérant une aide alimentaire urgente et une assistance WASH. Une évaluation aura lieu dans la province la semaine prochaine afin d'identifier les moyens d'accroître la riposte et d'empêcher la détérioration rapide de la situation humanitaire à la suite d'une aggravation du conflit intercommunautaire qui a touché la région au cours des derniers mois.

NIGER

PLUS DE 1 000 RÉFUGIÉS TRANSFÉRÉS DE TAZALIT

Le 31 janvier, le HCR a terminé une opération pour relocaliser 1 025 des 3 600 réfugiés ciblés du camp de déplacés de Tazalit, dans la région de Tahoua, à l’ouest du pays, jusqu'à la zone d'accueil d'Intikane plus au sud. Le camp avait été attaqué par des assaillants armés en octobre 2016, entraînant la mort de 22 officiers nigériens. En novembre, le gouvernement a annoncé la fermeture du site, donnant aux réfugiés la possibilité de déménager à Intikane, où plus de 18 000 réfugiés sont déjà hébergés.

58 CAS DE MÉNINGITE

Selon les autorités sanitaires locales, 58 cas suspects de méningite, entraînant deux décès, ont été enregistrés au Niger en janvier dans les régions de Diffa et d'Agadez. Avec un taux de létalité estimé à 3,4%, les seuils d'alerte ou d'épidémie n'ont pas encore été atteints. L’année dernière, au cours de la même période, environ 155 cas et 15 décès ont été signalés.

KEY FIGURES

1,770,444 IDPs* in Nigeria
* 1.71 million displaced by the insurgency
(NEMA/IOM DTM Report, Round XIII, December 2016)

198,322
Total number of Nigerian refugees in neighboring countries as of 31 January (or latest figures available)

164,281
Total number of Nigerian returnees, including refugees from Cameroon, Chad and Niger registered by UNHCR and NIS (as of 31 January 2016)

FUNDING

USD 170.2 million
UNHCR requirements for the Nigeria situation in 2017
Funded 1%
Gap 99%

OPERATIONAL CONTEXT

• The Cameroonian, Chadian, Niger and Nigerian armed forces and the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) continued to drive Boko Haram (BH) insurgents from their hideouts during the reporting period. With this fragmentation in their ranks, BH have intensified their attacks on commercial convoys, military barracks, villages and IDP camps. The group is also increasingly making use of suicide bombers in Maiduguri, using female bombers to target security personnel and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).

• On 17 January, according to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), a jet mistakenly bombed an IDP camp in Rann, in the Kala Balge LGA, which borders Cameroon. According to the NAF, 115 persons have died, many succumbing to wounds from shrapnel and debris. In addition to the loss of lives, infrastructure and houses were destroyed in the process and the event has resuscitated the debate on the safety and security implications of establishing humanitarian hubs outside of Maiduguri. The need to collaborate more closely with the Nigerian army on the inclusion of the human rights component in their rules of engagement has also been raised.

• On 24 January, at the request of the Resident Coordinator (RC), UNHCR organized an inter-agency consultation in Maiduguri to initiate the development of a Protection and Solutions strategy for the six north-eastern states affected by the insurgency. The strategy, which covers IDPs and refugee returnees, will be presented at the Oslo Humanitarian conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region 24 February. In several Local Government Areas, (LGAs) IDPs and refugees are returning to areas nearer to their former homes but villages on the outskirts of many LGA headquarters remain unsafe. As of 30 November 2016, seven LGAs remained inaccessible to humanitarians, due to insecurity.

• Government authorities in Adamawa and Borno have stated their intention to close all IDP camps by March and May 2017 respectively. Despite the fact that previous announcements of camp closure did not materialize, there are indications that several IDP camps and formal settlements will soon be closed. UNHCR has approached the Governors of both states to request that they allow the ongoing return intention survey and protection activities to take place.

• In the Lake Chad area, military operations are ongoing to remove insurgents from the islands. Compounded with those in the Sambisa Forest, these operations are expected to create additional internal displacement but also returns of IDPs, refugees and nationals from neighboring countries. As concerns, Chad, civilians have been given a corridor to evacuate the islands. Regarding Niger, a major bridge was recently repaired and as a result, it is expected that in the three weeks there will be an increase in the number of returnees from this country. The greatest number of returns (often forced) has been from Cameroon but a noteworthy number of Nigerians are also choosing to register as refugees in Cameroon given the high levels of insecurity in the border areas and sub-par living conditions in IDP camps in Nigeria. As of 31 January, UNHCR and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) had registered 164,281 returns, including refugees.

Reporting period: January to December 2016

Overview:

Throughout 2016, the humanitarian situation in Nigeria has been dynamic and the sector made important gains in strength and reach. The increase in access to LGAs in Borno and Adamawa, due to military operations, also revealed the overwhelming humanitarian needs, and drove a scale up of the humanitarian response. Despite limited access by road, the arrival of helicopters allowed new areas to be reached by international humanitarians, with CCCM and shelter partners now delivering live-saving shelter and NFI assistance in 15 LGAs in Borno State. Given that nearly no assistance was provided outside of Maiduguri in early 2016, this is a notable achievement – more people in urgent need have been reached by the sectors. In line with these improvements in access and the broader recognition of the urgency of the humanitarian situation in North-East Nigeria, the number of CCCM, shelter and NFI partners increased from 10 to 15 partners.

In 2016, the Government initiated a revision of the coordination structures. CCCM was rebranded Displacement Management Systems (DMS) to reflect the response in and out of camps, as well as the link toward durable solutions, under the lead of the National Bureau for Statistics, and was merged with the Shelter NFI Sector for the North East. The centre of gravity of the response shifted from Abuja to Maiduguri, in the North-East, where the Sector is led by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), with the support of IOM and UNHCR. Technical committees have been initiated such as the Cash-for-Shelter/NFI TWIG, supported by CRS, ad-hoc technical shelter meetings to refine the shelter options in 2016 and a CCCM task force for site planning and coordinated interventions.

Context and Response:

Out of the 146,059 households supported with Shelter/NFI related assistance in 2016*, 87,076 families were reported to have been assisted with NFI kits and 34,258 with additional items. An additional 3% of the response used the cash/voucher approach as a modality: these were pilots, and cash is now growing as a proportion of the response overall. Rental subsidy, for example, was first trialled in 2016. 14% of the overall reported response* was in shelter, with the vast majority being emergency shelter. 78% of the shelter response was provided in camps and 22% in host communities with the remainder provided in areas of return. In 2016, 486,312 IDPs were biometrically registered. Over 9,000 IDPs were relocated to Bakasi camp. Site facilitation, in support of Government camp management, was extended to 37 camps, in Borno and Adamawa, to facilitate monitoring and referrals. Several sites were improved following assessments and site planning interventions. The Displacement Tracking Matrix undertook location based assessments, with nearly 2,000 locations assessed in the 6 States as of December 2016, including IDPs sites and host communities, to inform the response.

170.2 M required for 2017
1.9 M contributions received, representing 1% of requirements
168.3 M funding gap for the Nigeria Situation