EU steps up aid for #Nigeria, #Niger and #Cameroon as humanitarian crisis worsens

Today (4 August) the European Commission has announced an additional €12.5 million in humanitarian aid to support people in Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon as they face a deteriorating humanitarian crisis. Today's additional emergency assistance will help vulnerable populations in the Lake Chad region. €9m will be provided to support people in Nigeria, €2 million in Cameroon and €1.5m in Niger.

The new funding comes as violence by the terrorist group Boko Haram from northern Nigeria has severely destabilized the Lake Chad region, causing the displacement of millions of people.

"When travelling to the region last month, I witnessed the plight of people in the Lake Chad Basin. Millions have been displaced and the number of those struggling to find food is increasingly alarming. The situation in Nigeria is especially dramatic. As always, children are hit the hardest and we must urgently intervene to stop their suffering. This additional EU funding will focus on emergency assistance, primarily in the areas of food and nutrition, water and sanitation, and health. All efforts should be made to ensure that humanitarian organizations can safely reach those who need urgent help." said Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Commissioner Christos Stylianides.

The EU aid announced today comes on top of the €58m previously allocated to the Lake Chad Basin crisis, bringing overall EU humanitarian aid to over €70m for the region in 2016. The European Union is a major humanitarian donor in the region, providing assistance to local, host and displaced populations in various humanitarian aid sectors in recent years.

TABLE - Total EU humanitarian aid to populations in the Lake Chad basin and in the Sahel in 2016: €216,200,000

Background

Nigeria is the worst hit country by the regional humanitarian crisis. The United Nations estimates over 7 million Nigerians have been affected by the conflict in the north-east of the country alone – including over 2 million displaced who rely on humanitarian assistance to survive. Already vulnerable host communities are also deeply affected, as is the local population in Nigeria, and increasingly so.

The Far North Region of Cameroon currently hosts 65,100 Nigerian refugees and 191, 600 internally displaced persons, 158,500 of whom have fled attacks by Boko Haram. Meanwhile, the violence has forced some 167,000 people from their homes in Niger, which also hosts 82,000 Nigerian refugees.

At the same time, some 4.4 million Nigerians are estimated to be severely food insecure in the north-east of the country. The number of children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition is reported to be particularly alarming –at least 244,000 are estimated to be affected in the state of Borno alone. Aid agencies are reporting that one in five children may die if not provided with urgent life-saving treatment.

In Nigeria specifically, the European Commission has been scaling up its aid continuously to meet the increasing humanitarian needs. EU humanitarian assistance to Nigeria since 2014 amounts to €73 million.

While the needs are immense, providing humanitarian assistance in Nigeria and the region as a whole remains challenging as demonstrated by the attack against humanitarian responders in north-east Nigeria only last week.

More information

Cameroon factsheet

Niger factsheet

Nigeria factsheet

EU steps up humanitarian aid for victims of Boko Haram in Africa's Lake Chad region