Abuja, Nigeria, UNHCR, 09 December 2014: Today, 09 December 2014, UNHCR in Nigeria is holding a briefing to apprise its donors on response activities to displaced persons in the country. The UN refugee agency will also be presenting its response plans for 2015 with regard to the growing humanitarian crisis in Nigeria.
Nigeria has been affected by conflicts and natural disasters that have forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands of its nationals. Many of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) do not have access to basic assistance, including adequate shelter, nutrition, health services, water and sanitation.
Since 2012, UNHCR and its partners have been assisting IDPs with non-food items (NFIs), including basic household supplies, in 11 of Nigeria’s 36 states to respond to their urgent needs. Government agencies that manage the displaced have also been responding to the crisis by providing food and basic relief items. However, because of the scale of the humanitarian crisis in the country, made worse by a small presence of aid agencies and the difficult access to displaced populations, assistance has been insufficient especially to the neediest and most vulnerable populations.
The numbers of IDPs in Nigeria have been growing rapidly. Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) recently announced that it has registered a total of 868,235 IDPs in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. Estimates by other agencies say the number of IDPs is much greater and has actually surpassed 1.5 million, due to the on-going conflict in north-east Nigeria.
As part of its humanitarian response, UNHCR will begin to aid NEMA in registering IDPs so that their needs can be better identified and the quality of assistance being provided to them can be improved. UHNCR has already established a presence in Bauchi State to efficiently coordinate assistance and protection services in the six conflict-affected north- eastern states of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gomber, Taraba and Bauchi, where large numbers of the civilians have fled from their natural homes to seek safety in the surrounding towns, rural communities, and public buildings, courtyards and open fields.
The UN refugee agency in Nigeria has already deployed competent staff in the areas of protection, community services, hygiene and sanitation. The agency is also planning to deploy further experts in information management and camp coordination, camp management. UNHCR is working with others to ensure that response is properly coordinated and targets the needy.
At the same time, Nigeria hosts some 2,557 refugees and asylum-seekers of mixed nationalities, mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire. UNHCR is working with its partners to find the way out for these refugees, some of whom have sought refuge in Nigeria since 2008.
As part of its efforts to end the plight of these refugees, in 2014, UNHCR resettled 125 refugees in European and North American countries. UNHCR continues to search for alternative solutions for long-staying refugees, including integrating them into their local host communities. UNHCR aids refugees in locally integrating into communities in part by building their self-reliance and by encouraging the host government to recognise the rights of those refugees who wish to stay and live in Nigeria like any other citizen or resident.
For further information, please contact:
Mr. Hanson Ghandi Tamfu, External Relations / PI Officer BO Abuja,
TAMFU@unhcr.org,
Tel: +234 (0) 92916667; Cell: +234 9027573068
Or
Ms. Angele Dikongue-Atangana,
UNHCR Representative to Nigeria & ECOWAS,
DIKONGUE@unhcr.org,
Tel: +234 (0) 92916667; Cell: +234 8181530428:
Links: www.data.unhcr.org/NigeriaSituation
