(Nairobi, 3 March 2017) – On a visit to one of the driest areas in northern Kenya today, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, saw the devastating impact of drought on rural communities and called for international support for communities affected by conflict and drought in Kenya and the Horn of Africa.

The third consecutive year of drought in the Horn of Africa is causing thirst and hunger, decimating livestock, destroying livelihoods, spreading disease and triggering large scale population movements.

Some of the worst-affected communities live along the Mandera triangle, where the borders of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia meet; a region that witnessed outbreaks of chikungunya, dengue, AWD/cholera and measles in 2016.

“Famine has reared its ugly head in neighbouring South Sudan, Somalia is at risk for the second time this decade, and more than 2.7 million Kenyans are severely food insecure,” warned Stephen O’Brien. “Crops are failing, food prices are rising, and families are going hungry. The spectre of hunger and disease is haunting East Africa again. We need to put a stop to this.”

USG O’Brien travelled to the remote village of Bandarero in Moyale, Marsabit County where he spoke to families facing severe food insecurity. Many of those he met said they had very little access to water, their livestock had perished, and their children were struggling to stay in school.

Half of Kenya’s 47 counties are affected by drought and the Government has declared a national drought emergency. The food insecure population has more than doubled - in less than a year - and an estimated 350,000 children, pregnant women and new mothers are acutely malnourished.

The Emergency Relief Coordinator visited several UN, Kenyan Government and private sector supported initiatives, including school meals for children, malnutrition screening, water trucking, cash transfers and livestock support programmes.

The Kenyan Government has pledged US$99 million to support national drought response efforts and committed to enhancing regional cooperation. But the scale of the crisis is outpacing existing capacity. According to the United Nations, more than $2 billion is required for humanitarian assistance in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia in 2017.

“I am here to say to the people of Kenya that the international community stands with you, and together we will get through these difficult times. We must act early, together, now,” said Stephen O’Brien.

For more information, please contact:
Farah Dakhlallah, OCHA Nairobi, +254 786 633 633, dakhlallah2@un.org
Russell Geekie, OCHA New York, +1 917 331 0393 geekie@un.org
OCHA press releases are available at www.unocha.org or www.reliefweb.int

Highlights

• Humanitarian access remained a major concern in the second half of 2016 in the Northern Regions of Tombouctou, Gao, Menaka, Taoudeni and Kidal and some parts of Mopti. Despite the signature of the peace agreement, renewed violence undermines the provision of humanitarian aid.

• As of 31 December 2016, 107 per cent of children under 5 with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) targeted by UNICEF received treatment, which corresponds to 80% of the overall needs. 95 per cent of targeted crisis affected children in Mali were provided with access to formal and non-formal education.

• As of the end of the year, UNICEF had 60% (US$ 19.9 million) available of the required US$ 33 million.

HIGHLIGHTS

• More than 170 organizations from 40 countries represented at Lake Chad Basin humanitarian conference held in Oslo

• Insecurity continues to hinder the delivery of humanitarian aid and contribute to worsening food insecurity

• USG partners provide emergency food, health, and other life-saving assistance to conflict-affected populations

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

- On February 24, representatives from donor countries, UN agencies, and international humanitarian organizations convened in Oslo, Norway, for the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region. During the conference, 14 international donors pledged approximately $672 million in multi-year funding to support humanitarian operations in the Lake Chad Basin Region, comprising areas of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria.

• In late February, Nigeria’s Borno State Ministry of Health (MoH) confirmed a case of Lassa fever—a disease endemic in Nigeria with yearly peaks typically occurring between December and February—in the city of Maiduguri. In response, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) is training health care workers on case management, contact tracing, and health promotion activities to prevent the spread of the disease. WHO, in coordination with the Borno State MoH, has also established a Lassa fever task force to manage response efforts.

• USAID partners continue to respond to critical malnutrition levels in northeastern Nigeria through malnutrition screenings, referrals to local health care facilities, treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM), and education on infant and young child feeding practices. From January to mid-February, USAID partner the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reached approximately 8,600 children experiencing SAM in Nigeria’s Borno and Yobe states with emergency nutrition interventions.

• Some communities in Niger’s Diffa Region are likely to continue experiencing Stressed— IPC 2—and Crisis—IPC 3—levels of acute food insecurity between February and September due to insecurity-related disruptions to markets and livelihood activities, the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) reports.4 Meanwhile, pastoral populations in Chad will likely experience Crisis levels of food insecurity between June and September. FEWS NET notes that ongoing humanitarian assistance is critical to avoid further deterioration of food security.

Lake Chad Basin - Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #10, Fiscal Year (FY) 2017

by Umberto Bacchi | @UmbertoBacchi | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Friday, 3 March 2017 18:53 GMT

"Humanitarian assistance has kept many people alive so far but their food security situation has continued to deteriorate"

By Umberto Bacchi

ROME, March 3 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The number of people facing severe hunger worldwide has surpassed 100 million and will grow if humanitarian aid is not paired with more support for farmers, a senior United Nations official said.

Dominique Burgeon, director of the emergency division at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said latest studies showed 102 million people faced acute malnutrition - meaning they were on the brink of starvation - in 2016, up almost 30 percent from 80 million in 2015.

The hike was mainly driven by deepening crises in Yemen, South Sudan, Nigeria and Somalia, where conflict and drought have crippled food production, he said.

"Humanitarian assistance has kept many people alive so far but their food security situation has continued to deteriorate," Burgeon told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.

More investment is needed to help people feed themselves by farming crops and livestock, he added.

"We come with airplanes, we provide food assistance and we manage to keep them alive but we do not invest enough in the livelihood of these people," he said.

"We avoid them falling into famine but we are not good at taking them off the cliff, away from food insecurity."

The U.N. World Food Programme said last month more than 20 million people - greater than the population of Romania or Florida - risk dying from starvation within six months in four separate famines.

Wars in Yemen, northeastern Nigeria and South Sudan have devastated households and driven up prices, while a drought in east Africa has ruined the agricultural economy.

Famine was formally declared in February in parts of South Sudan, which has been mired in civil war since 2013.

In northeastern Nigeria, once a breadbasket for the country, a seven-year insurgency by Boko Haram militants has uprooted some 1.8 million people, forcing many to abandon their farms.

The government says it has clawed back most of the territory it lost to the jihadist group and tens of thousands of refugees are hoping to return to their crops, although security remains a concern.

Burgeon said the FAO had raised less than a third of the $20 million it needs within the next two weeks to support almost 2 million people in the upcoming planting season in Nigeria - an investment he said would save money in the future.

"If you don't support those who want to return to their area to crop then you have to agree that you will have to provide massive aid assistance at least until the harvest in 2018, which is unbearable," he said.

Lack of funding was also hampering the agency's response in Syria, where food production dropped to an all-time low in 2016, Burgeon said.

"A lot is going to food assistance and barely anything is going to help farmers who have decided to stay on their land," he said.

The soaring cost of seeds, fertilisers and tractor fuel was pushing many farmers to leave, making it more difficult to restart the economy once peace or stability returned, he added.

"What we need to do is to help them stay and crop their land and be there for the future," Burgeon said. "To survive is not enough."

(Reporting by Umberto Bacchi @UmbertoBacchi, Editing by Ros Russell.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org)

The Security Council would organize its work in March around the theme “Preventing conflict in Africa”, Matthew Rycroft (United Kingdom), its President for that month, said at a Headquarters press conference today.

Outlining the Council’s priorities, he said it would first dispatch a mission to the Lake Chad Basin area, where members would visit Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria from 2 to 7 March. The objective was to examine the threat posed by Boko Haram and the humanitarian crisis in the subregion, he added.

On 23 March, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs would preside over a meeting on South Sudan, he continued. It would feature briefings by the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union, with the aim of helping to revive the political process and improve the international response to the famine in that country, the second in the world declared since 2000. Also on that day, he said, the Secretary of State would host a ministerial meeting on Somalia, with that country’s new President and the Secretary-General’s Special Representative expected to attend. The meeting would offer the President an opportunity to lay out his plans, and enable the Council to demonstrate support ahead of a related conference to be held in London on 11 May, he added.

March would also feature three meetings on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he said. On 16 March, the Council would meet with troop-contributing countries, and on 21 March, it would hear a briefing and hold consultations. On 29 March, the Council would meet to renew the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), the largest, most expensive and complex peacekeeping operation.

He said other highlights would include an open debate on modern slavery, to be held on 14 March, with the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for International Development presiding. That meeting would focus on ending forced labour, human trafficking and organized crime, he said, adding: “We want to make sure the United Nations as a whole and Member States are doing everything possible to step up to that challenge.”

The Council would also hold two meetings on the situation in Syria, he said, citing an update on chemical weapons use in the country, on 22 March, and a 30 March update on the humanitarian situation there. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be the focus of a meeting on 24 March, when the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process would provide an update. The Council would hold consultations on the situation in Yemen on 29 March, and an open debate on the situation in Afghanistan on 10 March, he said.

“We want make sure an action comes out of every meeting,” he emphasized, adding that the United Kingdom presidency intended to encourage transparency and ensure interactivity, which was especially important during closed sessions, where discussions could be “a bit staid”.

Asked about the notion of anti-Israel bias in the Council, the President said he would not characterize that organ as biased against any country, declaring: “We are biased in favour of the United Nations Charter.” Emphasizing that resolution 2334 (2016) was neither “pro” nor “anti” any country, he said the text was anti-settlements. “Prevention is better than cure,” he added. The Secretary-General was expected to issue a report on that question every 90 days, which was why the 24 March briefing had been scheduled.

Responding to other questions, he said that a 23 March meeting on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea would focus on a new mandate for the Panel of Experts associated with the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006). Urging any country with evidence of the use of VX nerve gas to inform the appropriate institutions, including the Security Council, he said the Council had received no such notifications thus far.

As for what to expect from the mission to the Lake Chad Basin, he emphasized the importance of taking an in-depth look at the threat posed by Boko Haram; and engaging Governments on how to address it, both individually and collectively, notably through the Multinational Joint Task Force. Council members also wanted a deeper understanding of factors related to the Boko Haram threat, he added. “This is not development in one box and humanitarian response in another,” he stressed. “Everything is interconnected.”

In each country, he continued, Council members would meet with representatives of Government, the political opposition, civil society and United Nations country teams. In Nigeria, the mission would visit camps for internally displaced people, he said. “We go with an open mind on what we’ll need to decide,” he added, noting that follow-up actions would depend on what members learned. The Lake Chad Basin crisis had been neglected in comparison to others in Yemen and Somalia, he noted, while also pointing out that although the situation in Western Sahara was not currently on the agenda, any member could open discussion on any issue.

Responding to questions about South Sudan, he said the Council would support the Secretary-General’s efforts to revive the political process, ensure that the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) had improved capability in terms of force command and contingents, and foster a different relationship with the Government that would allow UNMISS to enhance its access within the country.

Asked about the situation in Burundi, he said the presidency was tasked with keeping in touch with the penholder, France, and fulfil what that country believed was the best way to advance the issue. Consultations were planned, but that could change, he added.

For the Council’s full programme of work, please see https://www.un.org/en/sc/programme.

For information media. Not an official record.

WHO: Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

WHAT: Mission to South Sudan

WHEN: 4-5 March 2017

WHERE*: Ganyiel in Panyyijiar County and Juba

Following his missions to Yemen and drought-affected parts of northern Kenya, UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien is traveling to South Sudan from 4-5 March to see firsthand the critical humanitarian situation and response. Famine was declared in Leer and Mayendit counties in South Sudan on 20 February.

In addition to the 100,000 people already facing starvation in Leer and Mayendit, a further 1 million people are on the brink of famine in the country. More than 3.4 million Sudanese have been displaced, including 1.9 million people internally displaced and more than 1.5 million who have fled to neighbouring countries as refugees.

On mission to Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen between 26 February and 7 March, Mr.
O’Brien is meeting with affected people and stakeholders in the response to the four humanitarian crises.

Mr. O’Brien will now visit Somalia from 6-7 March.

*Locations subject to change.

For further further details on possible media engagements for each leg of the mission please contact:

South Sudan Guiomar Pau Sole, Public Information Officer, pausole@un.org Tel +211 920100411

Somalia: Tapiwa Gomo, Somalia Head of Communication, gomo@un.org, Tel. +252616548007
Antonette Miday, Public Information Officer, miday@un.org, Tel. +254 731 043 156

Kenya: Farah Dakhlallah, OCHA Regional Head of Communication dakhlallah2@un.org +254(0)786633633

The humanitarian situation in South Sudan has deteriorated dramatically due to the devastating combination of conflict, economic decline and climatic shocks. Insecurity and lack of access have left some 100,000 people facing starvation in parts of South Sudan, and famine was declared on 20 February. An additional 1 million people are on the brink of famine. By the height of the lean season in July, some 5.5 million people will be severely food insecure across the country.

Since the famine was declared, the United Nations and partners have delivered food to nearly 114,000 people across four locations in Mayendit county and nearly 25,500 people in two locations in Koch county. Three mobile response teams are currently deployed across Leer county to deliver food to nearly 48,500 people, and food distributions are planned in Koch and Panyiajar.

Read more on OCHA

KEY FIGURES

162,863
The camp population as at 15th February 2017. The figure is inclusive of Kalobeyei population.

1187
Number of South Sudanese new arrivals registered during the reporting period.

22,405
The population currently hosted at Kalobeyei Settlement.

20 litres
The per capita water consumption per person per in Kakuma refugee.

FUNDING

USD 65M
Requested for Kakuma operation.
Funded 31%
Gap 69%

PRIORITIES

• Movement of new arrivals from Nadapal transit centre to Kakuma

• Monitoring of new arrivals trend

• Development of Kalobeyei settlement

• Maintenance of roads and water network

• Relocation from Dadaab

• Voluntary repatriation (VOLREP)

HIGHLIGHTS

 The operation continues to receive refugees from South Sudan at the Kenya – South Sudan border at Nadapal Transit Centre.

 The laying and jointing of a 13 Km water pipeline from Kakuma to Kalobeyei is ongoing. Thus far, a total of 7 Km has been completed. A generator and water pump has been installed at the booster station in Lopur, Kakuma. The pipeline is expected to be complete by the end of February 2017.

 UNHCR continues to truck water to over 22,000 refugees and host community in Kalobeyei. Additional commercial water bowsers, with a capacity of 35,000 and 40,000 litres have been hired to supplement the existing 4 UNHCR water bowsers to ensure refugees have access to clean and safe water.

 On 3rd February 2017 at Kakuma airstrip, PDU and RST unit received 46 refugees whose USA resettlement departures were. The refugees were counselled on the prevailing situation.

 On 1st February, UNHCR Kakuma operation hosted a mission from Operational Solutions and Transition Section (OSTS). The mission which comprised of Antonie Sefieir - Associate Programme Office (Solutions) and Helen Atrafi (Policy Officer) toured Kakuma camp and Kalobeyei settlement to familiarize with the operation.

 On 13th February 2017, UNHCR Kakuma operation hosted the new Horn of Africa Team Leader from ECHO Mrs. Sandra Descroix. The Team Leader was on a familiarization tour of Kakuma where she visited among others Kakuma Reception Centre, the IRC hospital and Kalobeyei settlement.

 On 13th February 2017, the operation hosted UN-Habitat’s Deputy Executive Director Dr. Aisa Kacyira. Dr. Akisa was accompanied by UNHCR’s Country Representative to Kenya Mr. Raouf Mazou among other Un-Habitat and UNHCR staff. The mission toured Kalobeyei water pan site and various infrastructure projects in Kalobeyei settlement.

UPDATE ON ACHIEVEMENTS

Operational Context

 UNHCR conducts border monitoring visits to Nadapal three to four times a week to ensure that asylum seekers have unhindered access to asylum procedures and are treated humanely. Emergency medical cases are transferred to African Inland Church (AIC) Mission or Lopiding Hospital in Lokichoggio or to Kakuma’s referral hospital in Kakuma 4.

 As at 15th February 2017, Kakuma had a registered population of 140,458 refugees from 18 countries. The majority of these refugees are from South Sudan (54.8%) and Somalia (24.4%), followed by Sudan (5.9%) and Democratic Republic of Congo (6.3%) with smaller numbers from other countries.

 In February 2017, UNHCR has registered a total of 1,773 individuals including a total of 1,187 individuals from South Sudan. Since the beginning of January 2017, a total of 3,722 new arrivals have been registered in the UNHCR database.

 As at 15 the February 2017, the population at Kalobeyei settlement stood at 22,405 individuals from 13 countries including 16,938 (10.4%) individuals from South Sudan. Other nationalities include 2,144 (1.3%), 1,581 (1.0%) Burundians, 969 (0.6%) Congolese among other nationalities.

 Over 90% of the new arrivals from South Sudan are women and children coming from Eastern and Central Equatoria, Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile States.

 The Government of Kenya through the Refugee Affairs Secretariat (RAS), The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and The UN Agency for Migration (IOM) continues to relocate non-Somali refugees from Dadaab refugee camp to Kalobeyei settlement. As at 15th February 2017, a total of 2,611 individuals had been relocated to Kalobeyei settlement. Majority of the relocates are from the Anyuak community from Ethiopia.

Critical and Extreme Critical GAM Levels Continue for many LGAs and IDP Concentrations

The ongoing armed conflict in the northeast (NE) Nigeria continues to impact food and nutrition security in parts of Borno and Yobe States. Improvement has been seen in some post-harvest areas in South Borno and for IDP concentrations with access to humanitarian assistance, however data remains Serious and Critical in recently accessible areas that have inconsistent humanitarian access. The primary aim of screenings are to identify and refer children for CMAM programs and selection of site and children for screenings are not designed to be random. Nutrition screening results, however can be indicative of need and from October to January, levels reflected variable proxy GAM levels (MUAC<125), which vary according to the localities from 4 to 23 percent. Proxy GAM levels are above the Critical threshold in six accessible LGAs and one IDP Camp (Mafa, Konduga, Kwaya Kusar, Shani, Bayo, Magumeria and Rann IDP Camp). From the results presented these levels of acute malnutrition continue to reflect an “Serious to Extreme Critical” situation in areas that are less accessible. An emergency nutrition situation continues in these LGAs with the need for expanded and continued assistance to improve outcomes for children aged 0-59 months.

Population representative surveys conducted between October 2016 and January 2017 in Borno and Yobe states, found a Serious nutrition situation, according to the IPC for Acute Malnutrition. The majority of survey data comes from the Nutrition Surveillance Survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in coordination with the National Population Commission (NPC), the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), and the Nigerial Nutrition in Emergency Working Group (NiEWG)1 in partnership with UNICEF in November. The surveys covered both resident and IDP populations in accessible survey domains.
The North and East Borno domains were not surveyed due to accessibility constraints, and many areas of the Central Borno domain were also excluded a priori for the same reason. The GAM by WHZ prevalence (<-2 Z-score) was above 10 percent for all domains in Yobe State and two of three surveyed domains in Borno (Central and MMC/Jere). Southern Borno and all domains in Adamawa State had GAM levels between 5 and 10 percent, reflecting an Alert level. Small-scale surveys conducted in IDP populations in Dikwa and Bama LGAs showed improving GAM levels compared to the previous nutrition bulletin, which likely reflects improvements in humanitarian access. Data from Gowza IDP Camp (GAM by WHZ: 22.3%) showed the an Extreme Critical situation; partners report irregular humanitarian access to Gwoza since December 2016 which is likely driving this result.

Highlights

• The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mohamed Ibn Chambas, strongly condemns January 31st 2017’ deadly attack against a United Nations Technical Monitoring Team that was conducting a field mission along the border of Nigeria and Cameroon in the vicinity of Hosere Jongbi, near Kontcha, Cameroon, as part of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC) mandate.

• The mass measles vaccination campaign has concluded across Borno State; of total 2,915,712 children have been vaccinated out of the targeted 3,113,620 children of age group 6 months to 10 years in 25 LGAs with 94% coverage.

• UNICEF supported the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SPHCDA) to reopen the MCH clinic in Damasak in Mobbar LGA, Borno State, after being inaccessible for over 3 years.

• The Borno State health authorities under the chair of SPHCDA CDC have activated the cholera preparedness working group with key MOH agencies and health and WASH sectors partners.

Situation updates

• According to preliminary reports, on Tuesday 31st January 2017, an unknown armed group attacked the UN Team and killed five persons and injured several others. The victims were one UN independent contractor, three Nigerians nationals and one Cameroonian national that were conducting a field mission along the border of Nigeria and Cameroon in the vicinity of Hosere Jongbi, near Kontcha, Cameroon, as part of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC) mandate.

• People in Nigeria’s Middle Belt states contend with communal violence due mainly to resource disputes, and people in southern Nigeria have experienced increases in crime and in violence related to resurgent militancy and the claims of Biafra secessionists. Skirmishes and bombings in Nigeria’s north-eastern states (mainly Adamawa, Borno and Yobe) have had dire humanitarian consequences. Parts of the north-east have been secured, and people are returning home; such as is the case of Damasak, Mobbar LGA. However, security constraints still limit access to other areas, and most people remain displaced.

• On 25th December 2016, Nigerian military and State Government re-opened the road from Maiduguri to Damasak to civilian traffic. The reopening was followed by refugee and IDP returns. As reported by a draft UN security risk assessment mission report visiting Damasak, on 24th January, 7,000 to 8,000 families have returned to Damasak. The sources report on average 100 families return to Damasak per day. Out of this, 70 families are refugees returning from the Republic of Niger. Whereas 30 families are IDPs returning from Maiduguri and other locations. An estimated 30% of the returnees are children. In January, ICRC and Nigerian Red Cross distributed food to 1,000 returnee families.

• Damasak has one functioning MCH clinic just opened and supported by UNICEF. The MCH clinic is small and basic and located in the centre of town. According to the draft report, the clinic has a nurse, a nutritionist and eight health workers, but no medical doctor. Polio and measles vaccination teams use the clinic as their base. State Government health workers stay for two weeks in Damasak before they rotate. UNICEF and WHO support the ongoing polio and measles vaccination campaign in Damasak and surrounding villages.

• The General Hospital, on the other hand, is not functioning. The hospital compound was ransacked and looted and driveway and compound are overgrown. The hospital buildings are still intact but ward interiors present a wild scene of destruction. Operating theatres are smashed, hospital beds mangled and piled up, drugs and medicine madly scattered across floors and patients’ files pulled from cupboards and thrown onto the floor.

• Humanitarian presence is limited in Damasak. Health teams conducting polio and measles vaccinations are present. ICRC and Nigerian Red Cross have distributed food. Humanitarian organizations are advised to contact Mobbar LGA chairman to plan office setup and emergency response. However, the danger of Boko Haram in the region is real and as of the writing of this update (4th February 2017) armed attacks were and temporary displacements with possible casualties are been investigated.

Highlights

• WFP and the Ministry of General Education and Instruction celebrated the Africa Day of School Feeding.

• WFP rapid response teams completed distribution of life-saving assistance for populations facing acute hunger in Koch County.

• Emergency food distributions are ongoing in Leer where WFP has prioritized its air assets to ensure immediate delivery of required food.

Situation Update

• On the 2nd Africa Day of School Feeding, WFP and the Ministry of General Education and Instruction held a commemorative event at the Straight Link School in Juba, highlighting school meals as an important safety net to help break the cycle of hunger and poverty. This year, WFP plans to provide 300,000 primary school children with daily school meals at 600 schools across South Sudan through its food for education programme.

4 March 2017– The United Nations Security Council is today in Chad, as part of a four-country visit “to shine a spotlight” on the ongoing humanitarian challenges in the Lake Chad Basin region and draw international attention to the plight of about 11 million people.

In the Chadian capital of N'Djamena, the Council met with Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacké and visited the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which includes troops from the four affected regional countries – Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, plus Benin – in the fight against Boko Haram.

“The Security Council welcomed the efforts to fight Boko Haram and encouraged more regional cooperation,” according to a Tweet by the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the UN which has the Security Council's rotating presidency for the month of March and is leading the visit.*

Discussions with the Prime Minister also focused on the economic situation in Chad and the importance of women participating in the economy and politics.

Also today, the Council members met with representatives of the UN agencies, funds and programmes and non-governmental organizations working in the country.

They are working to aid the millions of people who, in addition to the security threat from Boko Haram and the fight against the terror group, also face a major food and nutrition crises. Some 2.4 million people are currently displaced in the area, according to UN figures, and more than 7.1 million are severely hungry.

In his conversations with the Council, Stephen Tool, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Coordinator in Chad, detailed the severe challenges in the countries, which include malnutrition, disease and health, sanitation. He noted, however, that “you cannot deal with humanitarian issues without looking at the root causes” which include insecurity, development gaps, lack of education, poor agriculture, and so on.

'That's who we're fighting for'

The Security Council delegation, led by Ambassador Matthew Rycroft of the United Kingdom, had yesterday visited Cameroon, where members met with President Paul Biya and other senior Government officials.

The Council also met with refugees and people displaced by Boko Haram and the forces tracking them.

In a blog post, Mr. Rycroft detailed meeting two young survivors of Boko Haram's violence. The first, a boy who was 13 years old when the terrorist group stormed his village and killed his friends and family. The other boy was about 10 years when he was kidnapped, escaped, and has since 2014 lived in a camp for internally displaced persons.

“They are heroic beyond measures,” Mr. Rycroft said. “That's who we're fighting for.”

Speaking earlier in the day, Mr. Rycroft outlined his vision for the visit.

“First of all, we came here in order to shine a spotlight on the situation in the Lake Chad Basin.

“We came to hear the individual stories of people involved, whether they are refugees or displaced people or other victims of Boko Haram.

“We stand with the government and the people of Cameroon, and the wider region, in tackling the scourge of terrorism, and in encouraging them to look broadly and deeply at the root causes of the set of crises going on here.”

The delegation heads to Niger later today, and is scheduled to continue on to Nigeria tomorrow.