UNICEF’s Response to the Lake Chad Basin Crisis 2017

A major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in

Africa’s Lake Chad Basin, where violence and

destruction have caused huge population

displacements, left hundreds of thousands of

children trapped behind conflict lines and led

to a dramatic increase in malnutrition.

Boko Haram’s attacks and military counter-

offensives have displaced 2.3 million people

across north-eastern Nigeria, Cameroon’s far

north, western Chad and south-east Niger. The

majority of the displaced are sheltered by

communities who themselves count among the

world’s most vulnerable. Vital infrastructure

including health centres, schools, water

pipelines and roads have been destroyed.

Many of the children caught in the conflict

have been subjected to unimaginable violence

and abuse; they have lost their families, their

homes and years of education.

Women and girls kidnapped by Boko Haram

have been subjected to physical and

psychological abuse, forced marriage, sexual

slavery or forced labour. Children have been

forcibly enrolled as combatants and used as so

-called suicide bombers. Across the region

almost a third of the population is food

insecure. Nearly half a million children are

suffering from severe acute malnutrition, many

of whom could die if not urgently assisted.

Children across the Lake Chad Basin

1.3 MILLION CHILDREN displaced across the Lake Chad Region,

among 2.3 MILLION PEOPLE

displaced

123,000 CHILDREN

who are refugees in neighboring countries—Niger, Chad, & Cameroon

515,000 CHILDREN

under 5 with Severe Acute Malnutrition in

the Lake Chad Basin

Displacement across the Lake Chad Basin

Sources: OCH, IOM, UNHCR,

Humanitarian Access in the Lake Chad Basin

Delivering for Children

“We are laying the foundation for a better future in the region. Protection, schools, water, health and nutrition are the core of our response. Most of all we provide hope.”

Marie Pierre Poirier

UNICEF’s Regional Director

West and Central Africa

For every child, protection This complex emergency is first and foremost a crisis of children’s care and protection.

Children - and their families - are fleeing the risk of death, maiming, abduction, sexual violence and recruitment into armed groups. In Nigeria alone an estimated 32,000 children have been separated from their families. Often, children in this conflict face stigma, discrimination and rejection when they return to their communities.

The use of children as so-called suicide bombers has become one of the defining, and most alarming features of the conflict. Since the start of the conflict, thousands of children - boys and girls - have been forcibly recruited by armed groups and used to carry out attacks.

Children are often in “closed administrative custody” under suspicion of being associated with Boko Haram, in disregard of the fact that any children associated to armed groups are victims of unlawful recruitment under international human rights law.

80% of all children used in so-called suicide attacks are girls

15 children have been used in so-called suicide attacks in the first 6 weeks of 2017. Among them, 11 girls, 3 boys and 1 baby.

Children increasingly used in

so-called suicide attacks

116 children were used in so-called suicide attacks Lake Chad Basin between 2014 - 2016

© UNICEF/Porter

One night, they came and pounded down our door and said they were there to take me. My mother was pleading with them, ‘Please don't take my daughter!' We were screaming and crying, but they said if we made more noise they would kill me.

They put me on a truck and drove a whole day and all night into the forest. We were beaten and then told to go to rooms to be married to our husbands.

A man entered the room. There was no ceremony. He raped me and made me his wife. He was very violent.

We were under constant guard, even going to the bathroom. No medical treatment. There was nothing.

Even after sex, my husband never talked to me. He would just go to prayers at the mosque.

After 3 years, I decided to escape. I ran away when my husband was gone. I walked for days in the forest.

I climbed a tree with my baby on my back and I saw a roof so I knew I was safe.

Now I'm in a camp. Someday I hope I can go home and see my mother again.

312,000 Children received psychosocial support

8,200 Unaccompanied and separated children have been supported

6,000 Children and women associated with armed groups and survivors of sexual violence have been supported (north-east Nigeria only)

Across the Lake Chad Basin in 2016

Aisha’s

Story

*Her name has been changed to protect her identity

© UNICEF/UN044665/Commins

UNICEF Key Messages:

Removing children associated to armed groups

from “closed administrative custody”. UNICEF

advocates for increased commitment by

governments to respect and abide by the Paris

Principles, the Beijing Rules and the N’djamena

Convention, so that children are treated as

victims and not perpetrators. A child’s

association to an armed group is not sufficient

grounds to keep a child in custody or for

prosecution. Children who have been taken into

custody solely for their alleged or actual

association to armed groups, should be

immediately released and referred to civilian

authorities for reintegration support.

Governments must prioritize children’s

recovery and reintegration.

Moving children from a military to civilian

environment as quickly as possible. UNICEF

advocates for the development and

implementation of “handover protocols” in

each of the four concerned countries for

children encountered during military

operations. The protocol facilitates a process

that enables the identification, age verification

and quick transfer of a child from a military to a

civilian environment.

Providing care and protection for separated &

unaccompanied children. UNICEF works with

partners and communities to prevent children

being separated from their families and

ensuring that separated and unaccompanied

children benefit from care, protection, family

tracing and reunification services. All children

affected by the crisis need psychosocial support

and safe spaces to recover. We ask

governments to protect children and all

partners to support programming so that no

child is left behind.

For every child, education Boko Haram is an armed movement that is specifically opposed to education and has a track record of attacking and destroying schools.

In Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, 14 million primary-school-aged children are out of school – 10.5 million come from Nigeria. These four countries are part of the Lake Chad basin, where conflict has affected 3.36 million children and youth aged 3–17, leaving them in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

Teachers and students have been detained or intimidated, injured and sometimes killed. Many schools can no longer be used because they have been damaged, destroyed, are sheltering displaced families, or occupied by armed groups and security forces.

Conflicts wipe out years of investment and achievements in education, cripples the development of education systems and jeopardizes the stability and growth of a country and region when generations of children are deprived of education. When a child is displaced for more than six months, there is a high probability that they will remain displaced for up to three years or longer - perhaps never having the chance to return to school.

242,000 Children received learning materials (only for Cameroon and north-east Nigeria)

1,913 schools closed due to conflict

© UNICEF/UN039586/Vittozzi

178,000 Children received access to education

Across the Lake Chad Basin in 2016

Boko Haram attacked in the middle of the night.

They were shooting and screaming all around our house. They shot my grandfather right in front of me. I saw him die. We went to a camp in Maiduguri. After a few weeks my dad and I went to salvage things from his shop.

I was just down the street when my dad opened his shop.

Boko Haram had planted a bomb and he was killed. When I

saw my father's body I collapsed and fell unconscious.

Every night for months, I had the same nightmare: I would

dream my father was chasing me, trying to kill me. When

we got to the camp, my mother said I should go to school.

She says that if I want to do anything in this world, I need

an education.

I love coming to school. I learn things and I get to play

games with my friends. School is a place for learning. It

helps me forget about all the bad things that happened. It

helps me think about my future.

Mustapha’s Story

UNICEF Key Messages:

Education is an essential ingredient for a

lasting solution to the crises in Nigeria and the

Lake Chad basin. Education has a positive

impact on individuals, families and nations. It

improves a nation’s prosperity, boosts

economic growth and helps reduce the

number of people who live in poverty.

Education also has positive effects on health,

fertility, women’s empowerment, risk

management, individual and community

resilience, civic engagement, social cohesion

and tolerance between people. In times of

crisis, education can offer a child stability,

protection and the chance to gain critical

knowledge and skills.

Despite the enormous benefits to children in

crisis-affected communities, education is

often the first service suspended and the last

service restored.

Keep all refugee and migrant children learning

and give them access to quality education. An

increased collective effort by governments,

communities and the private sector is needed

to provide education, protection and

psychosocial support to children in the Lake

Chad basin. This is not only a collective

responsibility, it is in everyone’s best interest.

No matter their location or background, a

child’s right to learn should never be

jeopardized.

Protect education! Demand a stop to attacks

on schools, education facilities and personnel

with assertive advocacy efforts. Call for

protective learning environments and

support governments as they endorse and

implement the Safe Schools Declaration and

Guidelines for Protecting Schools and

Universities from Military Use during Armed

Conflict.

515,000 children under 5 are suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the Lake Chad Basin.

For every child, nutrition

Nutrition challenges are not new for the people living in the Lake Chad region. Recurrent epidemics, droughts, floods and ongoing climate change-related problems have meant that children in areas affected by the Boko Haram conflict had a high prevalence of severe acute malnutrition.However, there is no doubt that the violence, insecurity and resulting massive displacement of people across North-East Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger have exacerbated an already delicate nutrition situation. Levels of severe acute malnutrition are particularily alarming in north-east Nigeria.

People in the region are simply unable to pursue their normal lives and livelihoods. Whether it is fishing, farming or trading with neighbours, normal activity has been disrupted and often completely

halted, and livelihoods lost. Food, when available, is unaffordable for those who have lost everything.

Children often get stuck in a cycle of illness – with clinics seeing the same children returning year after year suffering from severe acute malnutrition. This has detrimental effects on their health, and risks impeding their long-term development.

Compounding the nutrition challenge is the lack of access to clean water, sanitation and health care services – all very difficult to access when you have fled your home in a conflict-stricken area already suffering the consequences of long-term poverty.

In 2016, UNICEF and partners began to see a reduction in severe and global acute malnutrition rates in areas where there is a humanitarian response. This is the result of a combination of interventions in nutrition, health and WASH.

UNICEF key messages: Scale-up nutrition services for children. UNICEF and partners promotes innovative mobile services to quickly reach malnourished children in newly accessible and hard to reach areas. Greater efforts are needed to combine WASH, health and Nutrition lifesaving services.

Short and long-term solutions. For severe acute malnutrition, while we can save children’s lives with treatment, we cannot make a dent in their nutrition status in the long run unless investments are made to prevent malnutrition. UNICEF asks that partners and governments prioritize long-term funding and commitment to address root causes of malnutrition. For example, the promotion of infant and young child feeding, education (especially for girls), family spacing and improved health services.

“Now everybody is getting sick because of the lack of food.” -Yakellu Mohammed, Muna Garage IDP camp

After fleeing Boko Haram losing her husband and leaving behind her farm and everything she had Yakellu’s children are weakened and

malnourished.

194,000 children under 5 admitted for SAM treatment in 2016 iacross the Lake Chad Basin

Planned response in the Lake Chad

Basin for 2017

Children Admitted for SAM treatment

220,190 58,610

People reached with emergency primary

health care 3,919,357 514,419

People provided with access to safe

water 1,028,000 275,500

People provided with access to

improved sanitation 217,000 303,000

Children reached with psychosocial

support 375,000 108,533

Number of children identified in “closed

administrative custody” for suspicion of

association with an armed group who

benefitted from individual followup 5,500

Unaccompanied and separated children

supported 9,200 3,030

Children reached by schools / temporary learning facilities 1,260,000 136,165

Activity Nigeria Neighbouring

Countries

Four years since the beginning of the humanitarian response the Lake Chad Basin crisis remains underfunded and the emergency needs of children and

families largely unmet.

UNICEF works to meet the most urgent needs of children and affected communities with the invaluable support from donors and partners, including governments, local and international non

-governmental organizations, community-based organizations and the private sector.

To continue to reach the most vulnerable children in 2017, additional funding is needed to ensure a targeted and comprehensive response, to build long term community and family resilience, and to recover and rebuild from crises.

For more information on funding: https://www.unicef.org/appeals/lake_chad_basin.html

Funding requirements by country

Cameroon (extreme north)

$14,568,572

Chad (Lac region) $18,986,322

Niger (Diffa region) $15,007,042

Nigeria (north-east) $146,867,901

Total $195,429,837

For all those who have supported the response to the Lake Chad Basin crisis, you have contributed to the survival, development and protection of children and women. Without your generous support UNICEF’s work would not be possible – THANK YOU!

2017 Funding

Needs

Marie-Pierre Poirier Regional Director for West and Central Africa

mppoirier@unicef.org | +221338310831

Manuel Fontaine Director of Emergency Programmes

mfontaine@unicef.org | +12123267163

www.unicef.org

www.unicef.org/wcaro/nigeriaregionalcrisis/