The aid conundrum in northeast Nigeria

Under the scorching sun, Adama looked exhausted. The 56-year-old mother walked all night to get to St. Theresa’s Catholic Church before dawn. With help from faith-based organizations such as the Adamawa Peace Initiative, the church distributes 25 kilograms of maize and 200 Nigerian naira ($1) every month to displaced Nigerians who have sought refuge in Yola, the capital of northeast Adamawa state. Adama was one of more than 4,000 women who gathered at the church that day, hoping to receive much-needed assistance that could help their families survive for another month. Up until October 2014, she and her family lived in Michika, a town 232 kilometers north of Yola near the border with Cameroon. That month, Boko Haram militants attacked her village, burning it to the ground; Adama’s husband was killed outside their home. She grabbed some clothes and ran into the bush with her children and other villagers. “We hid in the bush for two months. We spent days without food and our children were getting sick,” she told Devex in Yola. “We have lost our land and our homes. If we don’t get food from the church we have nothing to eat. Only God knows how much we suffer.” Since the beginning of the insurgency, more than 10,000 people have died, at least 2,000 women and girls have been abducted, and over a million have been forced to flee their homes. Some 6 million Nigerians meanwhile are in need of humanitarian assistance. ‘Immediate’ humanitarian needs Yola is now home to about 50,000 internally displaced people. As with most Nigerian IDPs, almost 90 percent of those seeking refuge in Yola have chosen to live in informal settlements and host communities. The practice of forced family separations, cramped conditions in government-run camps and fears for the safety of the women and girls turn families away from the official camps. But the government only provides assistance to IDPs living in official camps. As a result, the majority of Nigerian refugees receive little if any food aid, putting more pressure on host families, many of which also live in areas experiencing chronic food shortages and extreme poverty. “Both displaced people and hosting families need immediate food aid,” Antonio Piccoli, head of COOPI — Cooperazione Internazionale’s mission Nigeria, stressed to Devex. The Italian nongovernmental organization provides food, water, hygiene and sanitation assistance to Nigerian IDPs with funding from ECHO, the European Commission’s humanitarian office. “There is a lack of drinkable water and one-third of the water points are not functioning, which means that 1,000 people share one water point,” Piccoli added, underscoring how the lack of latrines not only is a major health risk but also makes women more vulnerable to attacks. “Culturally, shared latrines are not accepted and the latrines should be inside the compound. Otherwise women are unlikely to use them.” Tepid international support? Although government units such as the National Emergency Management Agency and State Emergency Management Agency are present in northeastern Nigeria, few international agencies and NGOs are there despite the dire humanitarian situation. Donor funding to support humanitarian efforts in the region has not kept pace with needs as well. The 2014 humanitarian response plan was only 18 percent funded, and of the $100.3 million requested for 2015 to cover Nigerians’ immediate needs, only $11 million has been funded to date. “Donors would like to see a clearer distinction between the acute needs that are resulting from the Boko Haram insurgency and those that exist as a result of underdevelopment across the country,” Kasper Engborg, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Nigeria, told Devex. The funding landscape remains unclear, he added, because private financial contributions also play a significant role in supporting the humanitarian action. “It is therefore one of OCHA’s priorities in Nigeria to create better linkages and coordination with the private sector with a view to have a more systematized approach for contributions and to help the private sector increase its capacity to take informed decisions [and better support humanitarian priorities],” Engborg explained. Donor funding for Nigeria has traditionally supported development projects, leaving just a minuscule share for humanitarian aid. In 2013, humanitarian aid accounted for less than 1 percent of the nearly $2.7 billion in gross official development assistance to the country, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Some positive developments Engborg laments that the overall humanitarian response to date has been limited, slow, fragmented in its delivery, inadequately coordinated and not transparent. To be able to respond to the increasing needs in northeast Nigeria better, the OCHA official said his office will increase field presence in the country this year. It will also strengthen “humanitarian coordination mechanisms, reinforcing humanitarian leadership and strategic advocacy.” So far, the bulk of donor assistance, coursed through implementing partners, has only reached displaced people in government-controlled areas. Although Boko Haram militants have not harmed humanitarians or targeted international agencies and NGOs, assistance is very rarely delivered in rebel-held areas for safety reasons. Recent efforts by government forces to reclaim rebel-controlled towns have borne fruit, however, leading some refugees to return back to their villages. In Adamawa, IDPs have begun returning to Gombi, Hong, Mubi North and South, Michika and Madagali. But for security reasons, Engborg said U.N. staff is still not permitted to travel to these areas. This however may change soon. “Last week, interagency security assessment was conducted with a view to allow for humanitarian access,” the OCHA official explained. Yassine Gaba, head of ECHO’s Nigeria office, meanwhile told Devex that the EU delegation evaluates security risks on a daily basis to decide on the safety of field missions. Projects in the northeast, he clarified, were not disrupted but were just modified in response to on-site developments. “The upsurge in insecurity in the northeast over the past months resulted in some restrictions in travel movements in some parts of northeast Nigeria and especially to Borno state,” Gaba explained. “However, recent advances by the Nigerian military in ensuring the rule of law in most of the northeast will facilitate decisions on travel movements by EU staff to this part of Nigeria.” Check out more insights and analysis for global development leaders like you, and sign up as an Executive Member to receive the information you need for your organization to thrive.