Spotlights
Joint WFP/UNICEF workshops in Abuja, Nigeria:
As part of a joint WFP/UNICEF project Strengthening Humanitarian Preparedness in High Risk Countries, WFP delivered two ICT Emergency Management capacity-building workshops in Abuja, Nigeria to a total of 42 participants in March. The participants were drawn from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), State Emergency Management Agencies, the Nigerian Red Cross, UNDP and other government agencies. The objective of the workshops was to strengthen national capacity in planning, implementing and managing ICT solutions to support emergency preparedness and response efforts.
Cameroon: WFP is providing food to all refugees at the Minawao camp in the Far North. Food assistance was provided to approximately 31,000 refugees in Cameroon during the month of February. There was a significant influx of refugees into Cameroon in March. Earlier this month, WFP served some 6,000 children between the ages of 6-59 months. Seven day rations of High Energy Biscuits (HEBs) were distributed on 17 March to all refugees in Minawao camp.
Chad: WFP provided food assistance to approximately 7,000 Nigerian refuges in Chad during the month of February. WFP organized food distributions in early March to assist people affected by the attack of 13 February in Ngouboua. In total, 299 families were assisted by WFP with food rations for seven days. Food distributions will continue for the remaining 80 families initially registered by the government. After recent attacks in the Lake area, 2,703 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Bagasola and 2,025 persons who lost their homes during February’s attack in Ngouboua have been registered by Chadian Government. Due to security constraints in the area, WFP and its cooperating partners are unable to reach populations in Kaiga, Fitine, Djangole and Ngouboua, where nutrition activities are implemented. Many of the refugees in Ngouboua are in host communities.
Niger: WFP reached approximately 63,000 refugees in Niger during the month of February. On 13 March, WFP organized a technical coordination meeting with international NGOs. The aim was to better coordinate the food assistance response of the various actors on the ground. WFP’s partner ACTED carried out distributions on 16 March to the Sayam Forage camp (estimated to host 1,200 people).
