HIGHLIGHTS
USG partners continue response to Critical and Extreme Critical levels of malnutrition in northeastern Nigeria
USAID/FFP partner WFP reaches more than 1 million people in northeastern Nigeria with emergency food assistance in February
Conflict displaces nearly 9,100 people in Borno between February 24 and March 14
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
From March 1–7, a UN Security Council (UNSC) delegation traveled to the Lake Chad Basin Region, which comprises areas of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, to observe humanitarian and security conditions and meet with national government and regional officials, UN agencies, and other stakeholders. Citing the magnitude of humanitarian needs in the region, the UNSC called on the international community to provide urgent support to conflict-affected populations and regional governments in a post-trip statement.
Food insecurity and acute malnutrition remain significant concerns in northeastern Nigeria, where relief agencies continue to document IPC 4—Critical—and IPC 5— Extreme Critical—levels of malnutrition, according to an early March report by the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET).4 In response, the USG is supporting humanitarian efforts to provide emergency food and nutrition assistance to conflict-affected populations and conduct malnutrition prevention and education interventions in Nigeria, as well as in other areas of the Lake Chad Basin Region.
With USAID/FFP support, the UN World Food Program (WFP) reached more than 1 million people with in-kind food distributions and cash-based assistance in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states in February—the third consecutive month in which the UN agency reached 1 million people. The beneficiary total represents a significant scale-up in operations since late 2016, when WFP reached approximately 160,000 people per month with food assistance. WFP and many other response organizations continue resource mobilization and logistics planning efforts to further expand operations and reach additional vulnerable communities in northeastern Nigeria.