Nigeria

1.9 million people have been displaced in the northwest

8.7 million people in need

2.8 million people need assistance in water, sanitation and hygiene

460,000 people helped

Nigeria is facing a deteriorating security and humanitarian situation - with a protracted conflict in the northeast that has led to the displacement of 1.9 million people.

Today, 8.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the country. Inter-community clashes in the northwest, recurrent climate shocks, and high risks of disease outbreak make it difficult to restore a sustainable positive environment for the population.

Humanitarian and protection crisis

The ongoing conflict in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states (BAY) has exacerbated the protracted humanitarian and protection crises. 4.1 million people are in need of protection assistance across the country*.
In the northwest, populations trapped in a cycle of violence face natural disasters or conflicts, resulting in regular but temporary displacement and serious protection concerns.

A volatile context in terms of security and access

In the northeast, SI concentrates most of its efforts in remote and hard-to-reach areas (Monguno, Ngala, Dikwa) where insecurity and access are constant concerns. As populations flee exactions and attacks by armed groups, they take refuge in towns like Maiduguri, Dikwa, Ngala, and Monguno, where SI has been operating since 2016. These towns are surrounded by trenches dug by the army and considered secure.
The northwest (Zamfara and Sokoto states) is marked by a complex security environment, a proliferation of armed groups known as “bandits”, and a limited humanitarian presence.

Vulnerability to disease outbreaks

Nigeria faces recurring outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, acute diarrhea, malaria, Lassa fever, measles and the COVID-19 pandemic. The overpopulated camps for displaced persons often become breeding grounds for outbreaks of diseases and their rapid transmission among the population.
Nigeria is, behind the DRC, the second most cholera-endemic country in Africa. In June 2021, cholera spread rapidly across the country. This is the first time in three years that Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states have been simultaneously affected by cholera, reaching 88,563 suspected cases and killing 3,057 people across the country**.
The COVID-19 pandemic is increasing humanitarian needs and making the response more challenging. The Nigerian economy has suffered from the drop in world oil prices and measures taken to control the spread of the virus, including intermittent border closures and internal travel restrictions.

In this context, access to basic services and resources remains very critical for the displaced and their host communities. In addition to the alarming food insecurity, there is insufficient access to water, sanitation, hygiene, and health care, creating extreme vulnerability in the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the event of an outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera, which remains endemic in the region.

*https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/ocha_nga_humanitarian_needs_overview_march2021.pdf.pdf

**NCDC Cholera Situation Report – WK 38 – 20/09/2021 au 26/09/2021

206 million inhabitants
39% of the population live below the national poverty line
161st out of 189 on the Human Development Index

Mission
opened in 2016
Team 19 international staff
197 national staff
Budget 9M€

SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL operates in the cities of Maiduguri, Monguno, Ngala and Dikwa in Borno State, and is also able to provide emergency response to cholera outbreaks in Adamawa and Yobe States. In addition, since the end of 2020, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL is also developing projects in Zamfara State, northwest Nigeria, in the water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) and food security and livelihoods (FSL) sectors.

SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL’s approach focuses primarily on addressing urgent needs for water, sanitation, hygiene, food security and shelter/essential household items, as well as preventing and responding to disease outbreaks. In parallel to this emergency response, and despite access constraints and growing insecurity in the northeast, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL is managing to maintain early recovery activities, including livelihood recovery.

Thanks to their strong emergency response capacity, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL teams work in coordination with health actors and government agencies to combat malnutrition and recurrent disease outbreaks.

In order to fight cholera outbreaks, our teams provide a rapid response, including specific activities such as disinfection of homes, chlorination of water points, distribution of cholera kits, construction/rehabilitation of water points and latrines as well as awareness-raising on cholera and its spread in order to stop the outbreak peaks. In addition, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL coordinates the Cholera Task Force in Borno and the neighboring states of Adamawa and Yobe.

Our teams work within the framework of an integrated approach to ensure that the vital needs of populations in hard-to-reach areas are met. This approach includes the various actors present in the intervention zone: local and national authorities, the various clusters (i.e., sectors of activity), partners (i.e., NGOs), and the beneficiary communities themselves. These interventions respond to the most urgent needs but also work on the longer term by building or rehabilitating insufficient or non-functional sustainable infrastructures.

In addition, the construction of boreholes or the installation of generators or solar equipment on existing structures ensure the sustainability of access to drinking water. SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL also provides community with training and equipment to ensure that the infrastructures are maintained in the long term.

Finally, in order to limit the spread of COVID-19, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL has adapted its response by raising people’s awareness on COVID preventive measures in its areas of intervention, by building new hand-washing stations and distributing appropriate hygiene kits.

Partners

Implementation partners: ALIMA, INTERSOS

Funders : ECHO, BHA, Crisis and Support Center (CDC for its acronym in French), Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF/OCHA), WFP, UNICEF, EuropeAid, START FUND, Interministerial Food Aid Committee (CIAA)

Access to basic services and infrastructures

– Providing new or maintaining existing water supply and sanitation facilities;
– Creation and/or support of solid waste management systems.
– Emergency and Transitional Shelter;
– Voucher transfers as food aid;
– “Wash in Health” approach.

Community empowerment and resilience

– Improvement of WASH conditions in health centers, local markets and communities;
– Safety nets, restoration of productive assets, market-based support.
– Promotion of hygiene through campaigns targeting key handwashing moments or disseminating Cholera and COVID-19 prevention messages.

Multisectoral rapid response

– Rapid multi-sector assessment;
– Coordinated epidemic response with other actors and sectors through the Cholera Technical Working Group;
– WASH Emergency assistance;
– Distribution of hygiene kits, NFIs and shelter;
– Transfer of vouchers as food aid.

Should you have any questions, please contact Raphaëlle Goepfert.