The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Nigeria: crisis in north-east will get worse without urgent help, says OCHA
UN humanitarians issued an alert on Tuesday on the deteriorating situation for millions of mainly women and children in north-east Nigeria who continue to be affected by protracted armed conflict, just as the country enters the lean season.
Well over eight million people are in need of assistance in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states and an estimated 600,000 face emergency levels of food insecurity because of extremist violence centred around the Lake Chad region, that’s now in its 12th year.
Although previously dominant Boko Haram militia have been significantly weakened since the group’s leader was killed over a year ago, it continues to carry out indiscriminate attacks, said the UN’s top relief official in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale. Another extremist offshoot, ISWAP, is also dangerous, although it had also suffered setbacks, he noted.
As in previous years, a staggering one million people are also beyond the reach of international aid teams, said Mr. Schmale, who is the acting UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria. More than 80 per cent of those in need are women and children, who also face “abductions, rape and abuse”, while indiscriminate attacks in Borno state make it the most “unstable place to be”, he added.
“We’ve been asking to support out of the 8.4 million people in need of support at least 5.5 million,” Mr. Schmale told journalists in Geneva. “The conflict has left 2.2 million people presently displaced…We’ve just entered what is called the lean season that normally lasts ‘til September; last year it lasted ‘til November, so we’re also seeing the impact of climate change.”
Mr. Schmale noted that although Nigeria is a major oil producer, it lacks refineries which means that it has not benefited from the global surge in energy prices, linked to war in Ukraine.
“It’s early days yet in terms of understanding the full impact, as you may know, in Nigeria from the beginning there was speculation as to whether Nigeria would benefit as an oil-producing country. We’re not seeing that in fact at all, because Nigeria, as contradictory as this may sound, depends very largely on imports of refined oil so, the price rises we’ve seen are not benefiting Nigeria, that’s one concern.”
In time, the massive country could feed itself and avoid ever costlier food imports, the UN official insisted, although for the moment, it lacks the infrastructure and agricultural investment required to be competitive at a global level.
Of particular concern are the 1.74 million children under five who are expected to be suffer from acute malnutrition in the north-east in coming months.
“A key message is ringing the alarm bell,” Mr. Schmale said. “If we don’t get immediate funding soon for an initial multisector response plan worth $350 million, we will have a crisis that will be much worse in a couple of months.”
He added: “We hope that the international community realises that you ignore a situation like in the north-east of Nigeria at your own peril; it could have far-reaching consequences beyond the borders of Nigeria if we’re not able to keep it stable.”
ends
STORY: Nigeria Humanitarian Emergency - OCHA
TRT: 2 mins 15s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 21 June 2022 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot, flag alley, UN Geneva.
- Medium shot, UN Geneva Press room.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Matthias Schmale, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “A key message is ringing the alarm bell. And what I mean by that is if we don’t get immediate funding soon for an initial multisector response plan worth $350 million, we will have a crisis that will be much worse in a couple of months.”
- Medium shot, participant, seated, in front of large TV screen showing Mr. Schmale.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Matthias Schmale, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “There are 600,000 people projected to be at emergency risk level in terms of food insecurity.”
- Medium shot, podium speakers, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Matthias Schmale, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Now this is all happening in the context of a protracted crisis caused by a non-international armed conflict as many of you will know across the three states in the north-east in Nigeria: Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.”
- Medium shot, journalists writing on notepad or laptop in foreground, participant to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Matthias Schmale, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “We’ve been asking to support out of the 8.4 million people in need of support at least 5.5 million. The conflict has left 2.2 million people presently displaced.”
- Medium shot, participant in foreground, podium speakers to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Matthias Schmale, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “We’ve just entered what is called the lean season that normally lasts ‘til September; last year it lasted ‘til November, so we’re also seeing the impact of climate change.”
- Medium shot, journalist in foreground, podium speakers to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Matthias Schmale, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “It’s early days yet in terms of understanding the full impact, as you may know, in Nigeria from the beginning there was speculation as to whether Nigeria would benefit as an oil-producing country. We’re not seeing that in fact at all, because Nigeria, as contradictory as this may sound, depends very largely on imports of refined oil so, the price rises we’ve seen are not benefiting Nigeria, that’s one concern.”
- Wide shot, journalists, TV camera on tripod, lighting panel on stand.
- Close-up, podium speakers seated in front of UN Geneva backdrop.
- Medium shot, journalists, UN staff.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR , WHO
The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the “deadliest and most devastating” in decades as communities uprooted from the front line have continued to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , WHO , UNHCR , IFRC , ILO , UNCTAD
Alessandra Vellucci of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Federation of the Red Cross, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Trade and Development.
2
1
3
Edited News | UNOG
“State of Silence”: Diego Luna brings the fight to protect the press to the UN in Geneva
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna has brought his fight to protect journalists all the way to the United Nations, in Geneva. Together with documentary director Santiago Masa, he is putting a spotlight on the silencing of investigative journalism in his country, and on the incredibly high price that many journalist have to pay in pursuit of truth.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Today marks the grim milestone of 1,000 days since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale armed attack on Ukraine. Our Office has verified that at least 12,162 civilians have been killed since 24 February 2022, among them 659 children. At least another 26,919 civilians have been injured,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance told the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
With COP29 in Baku now in its second - and final - week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has reiterated his call for urgent human rights-based climate action.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNICEF , WHO
Lebanon: Increased violence along Blue Line and ‘horrific new normal’ for children
In southern Lebanon, peacekeepers have witnessed “shocking” destruction of villages along the Blue Line and ever-deeper Israeli ground incursions, while the situation of children across the country is becoming increasingly desperate, the UN said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ITU , OSE , UNIFIL , UNICEF , OHCHR , WHO , FAO
Rolando Gómez of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization, and the International Telecommunication Union.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend, amid a near-total a breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
In the nearly 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed, the country’s energy infrastructure is on the brink and drones terrify communities on the front line, the UN’s top aid official in the country said on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , WHO
UN Geneva briefing: Ukraine's humanitarian crisis deepens, with 12,000 dead and 3.6M displaced.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA
Besieged northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.