EMERGENCY
In response to the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Nigeria, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL has deployed a coordinated approach to enable people to protect themselves against the virus.
DSince the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019 and the first cases reported in Nigeria on 27 February 2020, the incidence of COVID-19 in the country has seen steady increases, reaching a peak of 2,314 new cases on 24 January 2021*.
In response to this health emergency, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL, with the support of the European Union, partnered with the NGO INTERSOS to implement activities to limit the spread of the virus among IDP and host communities in Borno, Adamawa and Zamfara states. Our teams carried out mass awareness campaigns, built hand-washing stations and distributed ‘COVID-19’ kits including soap, detergent, and jerry cans for water storage. Leaflets were also distributed to the population with messages raising awareness of protective measures and instructions for use, cleaning and disinfection.
These distributions corresponded to an urgent need. “We were not able to access soap and other basic items needed to prevent COVID-19 before SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL’s intervention,” says Ya’dawa Umara, a resident of an informal internal displaced people (IDP) camp in Mashidimami.
The activities were carried out in line with social distancing measures and in coordination with relevant partners to correctly identify areas and households at increased risk of infection. In total, more than 2,800 households benefited from these kits.
Nigeria
Context and action- 223.8 million inhabitants
- 163rd out of 191 countries on the Human Development Index
- 160,006 people assisted
Providing material assistance in times of crisis is essential to support changes in practices, particularly in terms of hygiene. This allows access to soap, the first tool in the prevention of COVID-19.
explains Lora Vicariot, head of programmes in Nigeria for SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL.
SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL’s work in Nigeria is not limited to the fight against COVID-19. For several years, the NGO has been implementing projects in the fields of water, sanitation, hygiene, waterborne diseases, food security and shelter, to help displaced populations fleeing the atrocities of armed groups, and host communities. Our NGO works both to meet their urgent needs and to contribute to their short, medium and long-term resilience.
*Data produced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (https://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng/state/)