Nigeria Appeal

The people of Nigeria are facing multiple, overlapping crises driven by conflict, communal violence, environmental shocks and disease outbreaks, with 8.4 million people affected in the northeast, northwest and north-central states. Needs remain high, while resources continue to decline. More than 3.7 million people remain displaced (70 per cent women and children), including over 3.4 million people in states prioritized for UNICEF's humanitarian response. Children face heightened gender-based violence, risks of recruitment by armed forces, psychosocial distress, and disrupted learning. More than 10 million children remain out of school, and those that do attend school are at risk of being kidnapped. 

More than 11.7 million people are expected to face acute food insecurity (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, phase 3 or higher) during the 2025–2026 lean season, with an estimated 1.7 million in phases 4 and 5. The prevalence of malnutrition is high, with 3 million children expected to suffer from severe wasting nationwide. Funding cuts and ongoing humanitarian system reforms have reduced the capacity of organizations to provide life-saving assistance within health facilities, limiting access to treatment. This has left millions of people at risk of preventable illness and death. 

Ongoing armed conflict in the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (known as the BAY states) has disrupted the lives and livelihoods of millions of people for more than a decade. More than 5.9 million people require urgent humanitarian assistance due to persistent conflict and insecurity in those states, as well as recurrent floods and disease outbreaks. The BAY states host more than 2.3 million internally displaced persons and 2.2 million returnees living in areas with limited or weak services and persistent insecurity. Up to 65 per cent of those displaced reside in camps or camp-like settings, often in overcrowded conditions with inadequate water, sanitation and health services and frequent open defecation, increasing people's exposure to outbreaks of cholera and other diseases, particularly during the rainy season. Beyond internally displaced persons, vulnerable populations in BAY states remain confined to garrison towns due to armed non-state actor presence in surrounding areas, which has hampered people's access to farmland, livelihoods, basic services and humanitarian assistance.

In northwestern Nigeria, armed banditry and communal violence in Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states have disrupted agricultural production, markets and access to basic services and have displaced nearly 1.4 million people, 80 per cent of whom reside in host communities. This has stretched already limited essential services. Attacks on schools, including abductions of teachers and students, cause frequent closures and prevent the consistent education of hundreds of thousands of children. Additionally, flooding in 2025 has damaged homes and farmlands in Kebbi and Sokoto, worsening public health emergencies.

In Benue state, long-standing farmer–herder clashes, communal violence and recurrent flooding have led to the displacement of more than 480,000 people who continue to reside in displacement sites or in host communities.

Overall, despite progress in state emergency response capacity, preparedness and early investments in anticipatory action, humanitarian needs remain severe in Nigeria and unevenly addressed, a situation exacerbated by insecurity, chronic underfunding and recurrent environmental and conflict-related shocks.

In 2026, UNICEF's humanitarian response in Nigeria is shaped by a constrained funding environment that has required deliberate hyper-prioritization. UNICEF's response focuses on eight priority states, where humanitarian needs are most acute and risks to children are highest, and where UNICEF’s engagement adds scale, value and impact, including in contexts where government service delivery requires support. The response emphasizes multisectoral programming, operational agility and strengthened access strategies. Other states facing elevated risks of flooding, disease outbreaks and sudden shocks will be addressed through capacity strengthening on emergency preparedness. Geographic prioritization is informed by a joint risk analysis conducted with local and national authorities.

UNICEF will secure treatment for severely wasted children living in areas affected by armed conflict, armed violence, natural hazards and recurrent shocks as a core life-saving priority. In high-risk areas with recurrent shocks and serious needs related to malnutrition, children's nutritional status is in danger of further deterioration without sustained, integrated support. UNICEF will prioritize early detection and prevention of malnutrition through multisectoral and integrated programming while delivering life-saving treatment services for children with wasting.

UNICEF will deliver integrated WASH interventions to ensure access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene for crisis-affected children and families, including through expanded and sustained water supply, gender- and disability-sensitive sanitation, hygiene promotion and provision of essential WASH supplies. UNICEF will prioritize interventions in high-risk areas and coordinate with health responses to prevent and control outbreaks of cholera and other diseases.

UNICEF will strengthen child protection and education by supporting psychosocial services in conflict and displacement settings, training teachers, establishing community-based protection committees and reintegrating children associated with armed forces and groups. The response will promote safe, inclusive learning opportunities – particularly for out-of-school children, adolescent girls and children with disabilities – while ensuring continuity of learning where it is disrupted.

Protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, accountability to affected populations and gender- and adolescent-responsive programming will underpin all responses, which will also promote disability inclusion. UNICEF will increasingly strengthen humanitarian–development–peace nexus programming. UNICEF will sharpen preparedness through enhanced early warning mechanisms, investment in anticipatory action, contingency partnerships, supply pre-positioning and community engagement. 

In the BAY states, subject to funding availability, UNICEF will continue as provider of last resort in sectors it leads; and, in coordination with intersectoral mechanisms and partners, rapid response mechanisms will deploy to hard-to-reach areas.

As the humanitarian reset advances, UNICEF will work closely with the Government, United Nations agencies and partners to support localization and a carefully sequenced transition towards greater national leadership, ensuring children are not exposed to preventable harm.