Africa (Commonwealth Union) _ Millions in northeastern Nigeria face hunger and children’s lives are at risk due to conflict and climate change. Humanitarians in Geneva highlight the underfunded UN response worsening the crisis. Displacement and destroyed infrastructure have limited access to food and healthcare. Climate change brings erratic weather and agricultural disruptions. Funding shortfall hampers relief efforts. Urgent international action is crucial, addressing funding gaps, promoting sustainability, and supporting peacebuilding for a resilient future.
Matthias Schmale, the UN’s top humanitarian official in Nigeria, highlighted that severe hunger is impacting 4.3 million people in the states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe. The number of children under five who are at risk of severe acute malnutrition, which can be life-threatening, has doubled in a year and now stands at 700,000.
Mr. Schmale described the dire situation in the region, recounting his visits to nutrition stabilization centers where he witnessed mothers fighting for the lives of their malnourished children. The children he spoke to expressed their hunger, having gone without food for days. He emphasized the unimaginable struggle of parents who cannot provide enough food for their children.
The crisis has been primarily driven by over a decade of insecurity caused by non-state armed groups, preventing people from farming and earning income from the land. Climate change and extreme weather events have also played a detrimental role. Nigeria experienced the worst floods in a decade last year, affecting over 4.4 million people across the country, not just in the northeast.
Rising prices of food, fuel, and fertilizers have further exacerbated the crisis, while the humanitarian response remains severely underfunded. Out of the required $1.3 billion in humanitarian funding for the region, only 25 percent has been secured so far, according to the UN official.
