Nigeria Appeal
Humanitarian Action for Children
UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children appeal helps support the agency’s work as it
provides conflict- and disaster-affected children with access to water, sanitation, nutrition,
education, health and protection services. Return to main appeal page.
Nigeria snapshot
Appeal highlights
The significant humanitarian needs in Nigeria are driven by conflict and violence. In the northeast, ongoing hostilities between non-state armed groups and security forces have affected 7.9 million people and displaced 1.8 million. In the northwest and north-central regions, inter-communal violence has displaced nearly 310,000 people and undermined the livelihoods of thousands more.
The humanitarian situation is particularly dire in areas with previously high levels of malnutrition and common childhood illnesses. In northwest Zamfara and Sokoto states, over 200,000 children are estimated to be severely malnourished. In the northeast, nearly 290,000 children are estimated to be severely malnourished and 3.5 million people require water and sanitation. At least 1.1 million children need support to access education, and 1.77 million children require child protection services.
In addition, dozens of states face the risk of environmental emergencies and disease outbreaks. The frequency and impact of annual flooding have eroded the resilience of riverine communities; and cholera and measles outbreaks affected more than 7005 and nearly 29,0006 children in 2019, respectively. The cumulative impacts of these disasters have weakened the coping capacities of communities.
Key planned results for 2020
455,619 children aged 6 to 59 months with SAM admitted for treatment
500,000 people accessing a sufficient quantity of safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene
644,580 crisis-affected children who received mental health and psychosocial support through the strengthened capacities of teachers and parents to provide supportive care environments at school and at home
Funding requirements for 2020
Country strategy
Across Nigeria, UNICEF works in close partnership with the Government, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to reach people affected by crisis. UNICEF will continue to partner with 11 international NGOs and 9 national NGOs, and seek to expand its partnerships in new locations, including in the northwest. UNICEF will also expand its geographic focus into these areas to respond to emergency needs in nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), education, child protection and health for internally displaced persons and host communities.
In northeast Nigeria, UNICEF will deliver an integrated package of interventions to conflict-affected populations in line with the inter-agency Humanitarian Response Plan 2019–2021. In most of its northeast sectors, UNICEF will hand over a greater share of service delivery to partners whose capacity in the region is increasing, providing UNICEF more scope to focus on coordination, setting sector standards and quality programming.
In nutrition, UNICEF will continue to manage the pipeline for ready-to-use therapeutic food for all sector partners. UNICEF will also ensure strong linkages between humanitarian action and development activities. Gender-based violence risk mitigation efforts will be strengthened across all programme sectors. In collaboration with the Government, UNICEF, will continue to provide coordination support as co-lead of the nutrition, WASH and education sectors and the child protection sub-sector.
Programme targets
Find out more about UNICEF's work
Highlights
Humanitarian Action is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate to realize the rights of every child. This edition of Humanitarian Action for Children – UNICEF’s annual humanitarian fundraising appeal – describes the ongoing crises affecting children in Nigeria; the strategies that we are using to respond to these situations; and the donor support that is essential in this response.
