Key messages
Nigeria has the highest number of acutely malnourished children in West Africa. Despite a gradual increase in the number of children that are being treated, more efforts are needed by the Nigerian authorities and donors to scale up the prevention and management of malnutrition.
There is an urgent need for a better assessment of humanitarian needs in the northeast of the country where a state of emergency is in force. Humanitarian capacity to provide assistance and protection for victims of the armed conflict should be increased. Non-compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by all parties to the conflict is a major concern.
The preparedness and response with regard to floods and epidemics could be improved by building the capacities of communities regularly affected and of Nigeria’s emergency management agency.
Given the high number of Nigerians affected by various crises, an approach linking relief with development (LRRD) and with ongoing resilience initiatives, has to be considered right from the start, during the design of relief programmes.
The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department ECHO has provided relief aid to the country since the Sahel food crisis starting in 2010, ensuring emergency food assistance and community management of acute malnutrition as well as health and protection services to displaced people and victims of conflict. In 2014, ECHO has allocated €7.5 million to help those most in need, with nutrition, health, protection and response to disasters and epidemics as top priorities.
