4.6m In North-East At Risk As UN Warns Of Donor Funding Crisis

 

UN Urges Global Support with $160m Appeal to Aid 2m Nigerians Amid Northeast Food Crisis.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has issued a call to action to all humanitarian actors to help raise $160 million to reach an estimated two million Nigerians at risk of severe food crisis in the Northeast states of Borno, Adamawa and Yola (BAY).

UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Fall, said that while 4.6 million individuals in the three target states are critically at risk, Nigeria has an estimated 30 million individuals who are food insecure.

Speaking at the launch of the 2025 Lean Season and Food Security Emergency Multisectoral Response Plan for BAY, Fall said that children constitute many of those at risk and that many of them have had their lives cut short due to severe acute hunger and malnutrition.

“Humanitarianism is under threat, solidarity is in short supply, and lack of resources is putting millions at risk.

“Hope is that if we act fast, we will save the lives of already vulnerable people who we know will struggle to feed themselves in the coming months.”

He decried cases where many mothers are forced to forgo meals to feed their children, and families forced to flee conflict are grappling with poverty.

“In the BAY states alone, we estimate that 4.6 million people will be acutely food insecure during the lean season because in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, 1 million children, under the age of five, are at risk of life-threatening severe acute malnutrition.”

This is double the number of children that were impacted last year, which has more than quadrupled in less than five years.

Fall said: “Lifesaving programmes are shrinking or closing altogether due to dramatic cuts in funding for humanitarian operations. A lot of capacity has disappeared, and we are now only focusing on lifesaving activities compared to previous years.”

While highlighting the importance of life-saving interventions to the states, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, observed that the humanitarian crisis demands urgent action by all.

Prof. Yilwatda assured that the Federal Government will provide leadership to ensure transparency across processes.