The United Nations humanitarian agency faces challenges in obtaining funds to address severe food insecurity in northeastern Nigeria, affected by insurgency.
The resident coordinator has raised concerns about potential mass hunger and fatalities. In April, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) initiated a $306 million appeal with Nigeria, targeting 2.8 million people in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states.
These regions have been devastated by a 15-year Islamist insurgency, exacerbated during the lean season when food scarcity peaks.
Mohamed Malick Fall, head of OCHA, informed Reuters news agency that despite Nigeria’s initial commitment of $11 million and an additional $11 million from the UN’s central fund, achieving the target remains challenging due to hesitancy among international donors.
“We are still far from our goal. This challenge extends beyond the lean season; we’ve observed a shrinking in humanitarian aid to Nigeria,” Fall stated in an interview on Thursday.
Fall expects to receive just $300 million in the best-case scenario, marking a notable decrease from the $500 million obtained last year. He pointed to the economic repercussions of COVID-19 on major donors as a primary factor behind this decline.
Additionally, he noted that the emergence of new global crises, including Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan over the past two years, has diverted attention and resources, further complicating efforts to sustain previous funding levels.
“The severity of Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis, the worst in a generation, is compounded by inflation rates exceeding 33% and food prices soaring by over 40%.
“OCHA has issued dire warnings about the potentially ‘catastrophic’ consequences of food insecurity in northeastern Nigeria without immediate intervention.
“Data from UNICEF in April reveals that more than 120,000 children have been admitted for treatment of severe acute malnutrition in the region, surpassing the annual target of around 90,000.”
Fall emphasised that the consequences of inaction are manifold, with the most urgent being a rise in child mortality.
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