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ACT Alliance Appeal: Emergency Response to Conflict-affected Populations in the Lake Chad Basin (Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon) - LTCD 19

Countries
Nigeria
+ 3 more
Sources
ACT Alliance
Publication date
Origin
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Appeal Target: US$ 2,263,042

Balance requested: US$ 2,263,042

BACKGROUND

2.1 Context

The Lake Chad Basin area, which includes parts of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, is facing one of the most severe humanitarian crises of our times. The crisis is characterized by displacement of at least 2.5 million (IDPS, refugees and, returnees) because of protracted conflict, effects of climate change resulting in poverty.

Information from OCHA (OCHA, Lake Chad Basin, crisis overview January 23, 2019) indicates that there are 10.7 million people in Lake Chad Basin who are currently in need and subjected to extreme hardship caused by poverty, climate change and, conflict. Insecurity is hampering the resumption of normal life, leaving conflict-affected households dependent on humanitarian assistance for survival (OCHA, Lake Chad Basin, crisis overview January 23, 2019).

Currently, armed attacks are on the rise in northeast Nigeria. The Humanitarian Snapshot published by UNOCHA reported that at least 9,000 persons from Rann town in Nigeria fled to Cameroon after Boko Haram raided the town leaving more than 100 structures destroyed or badly burnt down (18 January – 01 February 2019). Some 6,000 Nigerians have also fled the recent hostilities to Chad’s western Lac region. Rann town, home to 76,000 internally displaced people is currently inaccessible to international humanitarian organizations by road or by air leaving its population threatened by starvation.

The refugee and IDP situation is set within regions of the Lake Chad Basin, already characterized by sub-optimal economic productivity and endemic poverty. Approximately 50 percent of the host population lives below the poverty line in northeastern Nigeria – a percentage far above the national average of 33 percent who live below the poverty line. In Cameroon, the gap is even greater, with 74.3 percent of the population living below the poverty line in the Far North region (compared to 37.5 percent nationally). These social and economic disparities within populations has deepened perceptions of marginalization and exclusion. The refugee hosting regions bordering Lake Chad in Niger and Chad have been less marginalized and less excluded from development planning compared to equivalent regions in Cameroon and Nigeria (Nigeria RRP 2019-2020).

2.2 Needs

The situation in the Lake Chad region is deteriorating, as States are unable to provide adequate services to the affected communities. This coupled with a decrease in humanitarian funding, there remains several gaps in meeting humanitarian needs, even though humanitarian actors are present in the Lake Chad basin.

ACT members working in the Lake Chad region have conducted various assessments (in 2018 and 2019) and have also participated in different humanitarian coordination platforms (UN clusters, technical working groups, etc.). As a result, the following priority sectors have been determined:

  • Protection/Psycho-social support;

  • Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH); and - Livelihood/Early Recovery.

This dire situation is compounded for the conflict-affected people presenting a pressing necessity to provide immediate assistance to minimize loss of life and to ensure that the needs of the most vulnerable are covered especially for conflict-affected person with severe disabilities.