Victims of forgotten crisis

 Victims of forgotten crisis: As donors today pledged more than $670 million in emergency aid, we look at the plight of children - particularly the very young - who are a...

Victims of forgotten crisis

As donors today pledged more than $670 million in emergency aid, we look at the plight of children - particularly the very young - who are are at risk of illness and death in this famine-hit area.

It's been called the "forgotten crisis". While the Syria and Yemen conflicts have been grabbing global headlines, the growing humanitarian problem in the Lake Chad region of Africa has almost gone under the radar.

Huge numbers of people could die of hunger in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon unless urgent action is taken.

And children - particularly the very young - are bearing the brunt of the crisis.

About 500,000 under-fives are suffering from severe acute malnutrition - the most extreme and visibly obvious form. It is a major cause of death in this age group.

Today donors pledged more than $670 million in emergency aid for people threatened by famine in the Lake Chad region. A special humanitarian conference in Oslo, Norway, said the money was aimed at helping more than 10 million people.

Famine began last year in the northeast of Nigeria, where the government is fighting Boko Haram and millions of people have been forced from their homes. That - combined with Lake Chad drying up due to climate change - has caused a massive and complex humanitarian problem.

"This is a crisis of forgotten children," said Kathryn Taetzsch, the Lake Chad Basin response director for the charity World Vision. "Not only have children been forced to endure atrocities of enormous proportions but many are also suffering the effects of hunger and illnesses."

For months, Theirworld has been calling for a humanitarian response that includes safe spaces for the youngest children caught up in the crisis and safe, quality education for all children.

Theirworld's #5for5 campaign on early childhood development has also been driving home the message that nurturing care in emergencies - including the provision of safe spaces and nutrition - is vital for children under five.

Vulnerable babies and young children caught up in conflicts and crises can suffer from psychological trauma, toxic stress and poor brain development unless their needs are prioritised in humanitarian response plans.

"In all types of emergencies, babies and young children are especially vulnerable, with the highest rates of illness and death of any age group," says a new briefing published by Theirworld.

Self-reporting

AVICOONMEDIA: Self-reporting: The World Humanitarian Summit was a multi-stakeholder, collective effort to better serve people in crisis. Its success hinged on the full...

Self-reporting

The World Humanitarian Summit was a multi-stakeholder, collective effort to better serve people in crisis. Its success hinged on the full participation and commitment of thousands of stakeholders and institutions. Maintaining momentum on the Summit’s outcomes and measuring collective progress will, similarly, be a multi-stakeholder undertaking.

Through the Agenda for Humanity Platform for Action, Commitments and Transformation (PACT) all stakeholders who made commitments are invited to self-report on progress once a year until their commitments are implemented. Annual self-reporting in the PACT is a critical opportunity to communicate with others and make visible how your country or organization are taking forward commitments made at the Summit, confronting challenges, and working to promote positive change. It is a place to share your experience, triumphs, results, and what you’re learning.

In order to make the self-reporting useful for analysis, it is organized according to the 24 transformations in the Agenda for Humanity. In the reporting form, each of your commitments will be listed under the transformation to which it is most aligned in the Agenda. The information provided through the self-reporting will be publically available on the PACT to promote transparency and facilitate collaboration between stakeholders. It will also form the basis of the annual synthesis report to be prepared by OCHA (expected release September). The annual synthesis report will highlight trends in progress, achievements and gaps that need more attention.

AVICOONMEDIA: Nigeria, The Widows' house

AVICOONMEDIA: Nigeria, The Widows' house:   Residents of a so-called widows' house in Banki, Borno State, north-east Nigeria, sit with their children. In Banki, many women wh...

Nigeria, The Widows' house

 Residents of a so-called widows' house in Banki, Borno State, north-east Nigeria, sit with their children. In Banki, many women who have become separated from their husbands during the Boko Haram related conflict feel safer living together. They now live in groups in the town’s semi-destroyed houses, along with their children, while waiting to find out if their husbands are still alive.  The Nigerian military has recently regained control of the town of Banki after it was seized and destroyed by Boko Haram in 2014. UNICEF and partners are working to support vulnerable families living in Banki and other areas affected by the crisis.

With the constant arrival of people, it's difficult to accurately determine how many people live here. According to the local camp management, there's at least 20,000 displaced people now living in Banki – and the true figure could be more than twice as high.

Displaced families aren't living in tents in Banki, rather they have sought shelter in the town's semi-destroyed buildings. Most don't have roofs and the walls still bear the scars of  battle. In some houses, groups of widowed women are pooling resources. The so-called 'widows' houses' are home to women who were separated from their husbands during the conflict, or whose husbands have been kidnapped or killed by Boko Haram. Many feel safer living together, along with their children.

As they wait to see if their husbands will return, the women make do as best they can. Some try to earn a small income through dressmaking, others get on with daily chores like pounding maize for meals or chopping firewood for use in cooking. In one widows' house we meet 18-year-old Yagana*. She used to live in a small village outside Banki with her husband and new baby Falti. The family decided to flee over the border to Cameroon because of the ongoing fighting. But while they were trying to get there, they were ambushed by Boko Haram.

"As we were fleeing, Boko Haram stopped us," she says. "They beat my husband and took him away." Yagana later found out through friends that Boko Haram had shot and killed her husband. When Banki was liberated, Yagana decided to come back to Nigeria, but she is still haunted by memories. "I keep dreaming about my husband," she explains. "Life is difficult without him, I can't get him out of my mind." For now, the future for Yagana and her baby is uncertain, but at least they have found some security here in Banki. "I used to feel scared all the time. But at least now, I feel safe," she says

 Source: UNICEF Nigeria.