HIGHLIGHTS
• Acute food insecurity likely to persist across the Lake Chad Basin through at least mid-2018
• The UN requests $157 million to support 293,000 Nigerian refugees and host community members in Lake Chad Basin during 2018
• The UN allocates $13.4 million to the NHF to deliver multi-sector assistance for 950,000 people in northeastern Nigeria
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
Violence and insecurity continue to result in civilian casualties and hinder humanitarian operations in northeastern Nigeria. A December 2 person-borne improvised explosive device (PBIED) attack killed at least 13 civilians in Borno State’s town of Bui, while a November 28 attack on a team of health workers forced the suspension of vaccination activities in Borno’s Gubio Local Government Area (LGA). Organizations operating in northeastern Nigeria report that intensified conflict in the region during November has increased population displacement, resulted in numerous civilian casualties, and limited humanitarian access.
Many vulnerable populations in northeastern Nigeria continue to face Crisis—IPC 3—or Emergency—IPC 4—levels of acute food insecurity, with an elevated risk of Famine—IPC 5—in inaccessible areas; the dire conditions are expected to persist through mid-2018, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET).4
In addition, the Government of Chad (GoC), in collaboration with humanitarian actors, recently released an updated Cadre Harmonisé (CH) report—a tool used across West Africa for the classification and quantification of food insecurity—that estimated approximately 187,000 people could experience Crisis—Phase 3—or worse levels of acute food insecurity in Lac Region between June and August 2018.
Approximately 2.3 million people in Niger, including 419,000 people in Diffa Region, may require humanitarian assistance during 2018, according to the 2018 Niger Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO).