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Nigeria: Operation Overview, July 2017

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Nigeria
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Logistics Cluster
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Background

The Logistics Sector Nigeria provides support to the Government-led coordination of the humanitarian logistics response in north-eastern Nigeria. It supports the Humanitarian Community by maintaining an open forum for discussing and addressing logistics issues as they arise; by facilitating access to logistics services and providing guidance and advice; and by promoting joint planning.
Some key operational areas have become largely inaccessible due to the rainy season. This, taken together with a fluid and unpredictable security situation and the scale of the need, has created significant strain on the logistics capacity of humanitarian responders in in the affected states: Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, and Yobe states.

July Highlights

• In July, the Logistics Sector facilitated the storage of 4,700 m3 (1,000 mt) of humanitarian relief items at the InterAgency Logistics Base in Maiduguri on behalf of 20 organisations, and the consolidation of 27 m³ (5 mt) of air cargo on behalf of seven organisations. The facility, which is managed by Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) in Maiduguri, includes a timber shed and a dedicated temperature-controlled storage area (150 m2 ). The kitting area (15x45 m) became operational in July and is available for partners’ use. A conference room is under construction and will ready in the coming weeks.

• Several delays have been faced in the establishment of common storage sites in Monguno,
Ngala and Banki due to the slow pace of construction works and heavy rains which made some key roads difficult to travel.

• The site in Monguno is expected to become operational in mid-August. The site will be managed by Solidarites International (SI) on behalf of the Logistics Sector and will include four 10x32 MSUs with a total storage capacity of 1280 m2 .

• The site in Ngala is only partially completed and is expected to become operational at the end of August. The two 10x32 MSUs with a total storage capacity of 640 m2 will be managed by WFP on behalf of the Logistics Sector.

• The works to establish a common storage site in Banki began at the end of July. The site, which will be managed by INTERSOS on behalf of the Logistics Sector, is expected to become operational at the end of August. Current plans for the site are to include one 10x24 (240 m2 ), which will potentially be augmented by an additional 10x32 MSU (320 m2 ).

• Based on the inputs from partners, Damasak and Dikwa were identified as priority locations for establishing additional common storage sites. The next step is to identify qualified organisations who are interested and capable of managing one or both of these sites on behalf of the Logistics Sector and in support of humanitarian partners’ storage requirements.

• The rainy season has started and some key roads have become largely cut off; i.e. the road to Rann continues to be unpassable for local transporters due to the recent rains. Following an engagement with the Deputy Governor and the Chairman of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the Logistics Sector is in the process of securing a number of 6x4 and 6x6 yellow dump trucks for humanitarian cargo movement to Rann and Ngala. The trucks will be managed by WFP, and access to the service coordinated by the Logistics Sector. The Sector continues to coordinate with partners to prioritize the dispatch of relief items and with the military to ensure security measures are in place.

• The Logistics Sector team conducted three assessment missions: to Banki, Monguno and Dikwa. The team assessed the potential MSU sites for common storage and met with the military and local community leaders to discuss access issues during the rainy season and beyond.

• Issues related to humanitarian access, cargo movement, and military escorts are also being discussed at the weekly Civil-Military Forum. The military is now requiring that all cargo convoys on the eastern (Mafa-DikwaNgala) route include a recovery vehicle and an empty truck to assist trucks that breakdown. The Union of Road Transport Workers has begun to provide this service, at a cost recovery basis. The Logistics Sector is facilitating the engagement between partners and the Union of Road Transport Workers to assess if they utilize the union’s service, or seek to lease their own recovery/empty vehicles for cargo convoys.

• The Logistics Sector supports the Civil/Military coordination (CMCoord) mechanisms established by OCHA. This includes the facilitating cargo movements and escort arrangements. In July, the Logistics Sector facilitated close to 841 truck movement requests carrying relief cargo, of which 510 with military escort, on behalf of 21 organisations. A snapshot of the Coordination of the Humanitarian Cargo Movement has been published.

• Following the success of the Warehouse Management training organised in April and requests from partners, the Logistics Sector organised a second training session again on 31 July, which was co-facilitated by WHO and WFP.
The practical session was held at the Inter-Agency Logistics Base in Maiduguri managed by PUI on behalf of the Logistics Sector (see image below).