Conflict-hit Nigerian families hit by COVID lockdowns on ‘life-support’: WFP
Help and funding are needed urgently for millions of people in Nigeria who have been hit severely by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including conflict-hit communities “on life-support” in the north-east, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
More than $182 million is needed to sustain lifesaving aid to Africa’s most populous country over the next six months, the World Food Programme (WFP) said.
“We are concerned by conflict-affected communities in north-east Nigeria who already face extreme hunger and who are especially vulnerable. They are on life-support and need assistance to survive,” said Elisabeth Byrs, WFP senior spokesperson, in reference to Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
The three states have been plagued by a decade-long insurgency that has spilled over into the Lake Chad region.
It remains among the most severe humanitarian crises in the world, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with some 7.9 million mainly women and children in need of urgent assistance today.
“That’s why WFP is distributing now two months’ worth of food and nutrition assistance in IDP camps and among vulnerable communities to ensure that people have enough food while they are on full or partial lockdown,” Ms Byrs said, outlining plans to help a total of 1.8 million people there.
Needs are great nationally too, the UN agency has warned, linked to a steep drop in international oil prices - Nigeria’s major export commodity - since the outbreak of the virus.
To date, latest World Health Organization (WHO) data indicates that the country has seen more than 12,800 confirmed cases of new coronavirus and over 360 deaths linked to the respiratory disease.
More than 3.8 million people mainly working in the informal sector face losing their jobs amid rising hardship, Ms. Byrs said, and this could rise to 13 million if movement restrictions continue for a longer period.
“This would add to the almost 20 million (23 per cent of the labour force) already out of work,” the WFP spokesperson said.
“In a country where about 90 million people - 46 per cent of the population - live on less than $2 a day, this is a real concern,” Ms. Byrs continued. “The urban poor who depend on a daily wage to feed themselves and their families have been very hit by movement restrictions to contain the spread of the virus.”
Three million individuals among the most vulnerable will receive help, the WFP spokesperson explained, with additional support to Government social protection systems in the cities of Abuja, Kano and Lagos – places where the agency has not been present until now.
WFP’s involvement has included re-adjusting school meals programmes during school closures by providing take-home rations.
The initiative kicked off in the federal capital Abuja and the commercial capital Lagos in mid-May.
The programme – which is led by Nigeria’s Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs - aims to reach nine million children in three million homes across the country’s 36 states, where school closures have affected some 39 million youngsters.
The urban poor remain the focus of the scheme, including the floating slum community of Makoko, where tens of thousands of people live cheek on stilt houses in a village on the outskirts of Lagos.
“When the Government said nobody should go anywhere, I couldn’t go to the market,” said fish-seller and mother-of-four Marceline Wanu, who is 25. “But when I couldn’t go to the market, there was no money to feed my children sometimes and that is very painful. My children received food when they were going to school but when their schools closed, that became an extra burden. But since they gave use some food, it has helped us a bit.”
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Time is running out for starving civilians in Sudan, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday, while talks involving the country’s warring parties continue in Geneva this week.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC faces a severe humanitarian crisis with 25M in need and rising conflict-related issues.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
A gimmer of good news emerged from Gaza on Tuesday as patients returned to at a newly reopened UN health centre in Khan Younis, six months after it was severely damaged and forced to close by heavy fighting, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN condemns attacks on Kyiv hospitals, calls for immediate action to protect civilians.
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO
In Gaza, soaring temperatures, hunger and unsanitary conditions present an ever more deadly threat to a population under constant attack, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WMO , IFRC
Hurricane Beryl smashes into Caribbean, turns sights on Mexico As Hurricane Beryl’s destructive path shifted to Mexico on Friday after roiling the Caribbean, UN agencies and partners said that the emergency response was underway, before warning that a very long and damaging hurricane season looks increasingly likely.
1
1
2
Edited News | IOM , mcc , UNHCR
Refugees and migrants continue to face extreme forms of violence, exploitation and death on sea and on land across Africa as they attempt to leave the continent, UN agencies said on Friday, in an appeal to border authorities to do more to protect them.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk at the 56th Human Rigths Council, made the following update on the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
New evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army for areas in southern Gaza are expected to impact 250,000 people, including eastern Khan Younis and Rafah, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: People are desperate, they need everything, says UN aid agency Panic and desperation now grip ordinary Gazans struggling to survive, UN humanitarians said on Friday, amid fuel shortages of fuel and dwindling supplies that have prevented aid teams from doing their job.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
UN aid teams and partner organizations remain deeply committed to delivering lifesaving supplies into Gaza, despite the increasing dangers of working there, the Organization’s top aid official said on Wednesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
Every day in Gaza 10 children lose one or both legs, says top UN aid official There’s been no let-up in the terrible human cost of the war in Gaza where 10 children lose one or both legs every day, amid ongoing Israeli bombardment and renewed fears of famine, a top UN aid official said on Tuesday.