Cross-border efforts urged to deal with famine threats in Nigeria

(VNF) - UN aid agencies and donor countries gathered in Oslo on Feb 23 for a two-day meeting to raise emergency aid for millions of people threatened by famine in northeastern Nigeria, a Boko Haram stronghold.

The UN aims to raise up to 1.4 billion euros (US$1.5 billion) in commitments throughout 2017 for the Lake Chad region, which comprises northeast Nigeria, northern Cameroon, western Chad and southeast Niger.

Nigeria is one of the poorest regions in the world, and has been ravaged by eight years of violence.

Across northeast Nigeria, some 5.1 million people are facing severe food shortages and nearly 500,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition, up to 20% of them are dying unless more supports reach them, according to the UN children’s fund, Unicef, and other aid organisations.

"More than 10 million people are in need of assistance... Some parts of northeastern Nigeria may unfortunately already experience famine," Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende stated, in a meeting with non-governmental organisations on Thursday.

A woman feeds a young baby suffering from severe malnutrition at the therapeutic feeding centre in north-east Nigeria (source: AFP)

Nigeria, at the same time, is facing another tough challenge, as the rainy season is coming, which may lead to the prevalence of disease such as malaria, said The UN humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel region, Toby Lanzer./.