HIGHLIGHTS
More than 170 organizations from 40 countries represented at Lake Chad Basin humanitarian conference held in Oslo
Insecurity continues to hinder the delivery of humanitarian aid and contribute to worsening food insecurity
USG partners provide emergency food, health, and other life-saving assistance to conflict-affected populations
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
- On February 24, representatives from donor countries, UN agencies, and international humanitarian organizations convened in Oslo, Norway, for the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region. During the conference, 14 international donors pledged approximately $672 million in multi-year funding to support humanitarian operations in the Lake Chad Basin Region, comprising areas of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria.
In late February, Nigeria’s Borno State Ministry of Health (MoH) confirmed a case of Lassa fever—a disease endemic in Nigeria with yearly peaks typically occurring between December and February—in the city of Maiduguri. In response, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) is training health care workers on case management, contact tracing, and health promotion activities to prevent the spread of the disease. WHO, in coordination with the Borno State MoH, has also established a Lassa fever task force to manage response efforts.
USAID partners continue to respond to critical malnutrition levels in northeastern Nigeria through malnutrition screenings, referrals to local health care facilities, treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM), and education on infant and young child feeding practices. From January to mid-February, USAID partner the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reached approximately 8,600 children experiencing SAM in Nigeria’s Borno and Yobe states with emergency nutrition interventions.
Some communities in Niger’s Diffa Region are likely to continue experiencing Stressed— IPC 2—and Crisis—IPC 3—levels of acute food insecurity between February and September due to insecurity-related disruptions to markets and livelihood activities, the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) reports.4 Meanwhile, pastoral populations in Chad will likely experience Crisis levels of food insecurity between June and September. FEWS NET notes that ongoing humanitarian assistance is critical to avoid further deterioration of food security.