The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released a massive US$10 million allocation to assist save lives and send critical aid to those who need it most as the people of north-east Nigeria struggle to survive a terrible food and nutrition crisis.
Mr. Matthias Schmale, the resident and humanitarian coordinator for the United Nations in Nigeria, estimates that in the northeast, 1.74 million children under the age of five are anticipated to experience acute malnutrition by the year 2022. The northeast experienced the largest burden of acute malnutrition since 2016 with a 34% increase so far from last year, and more than 300,000 children are anticipated to experience severe acute malnutrition.
“The consequences of inaction are a matter of life and death. If immediate action is not taken, more than five thousand children are expected to die. Those who survive will potentially face lifelong disabilities. Malnutrition puts children at greater risk of dying from common infections, increases the frequency and severity of such infections, delays recovery and causes development stagnation.
“This CERF allocation will enable accelerated action to increase treatment capacity and early identification of acute malnutrition. The funding will be used for integrated prevention and treatment, including proven local solutions to improve availability, affordability and/or accessibility to nutritious foods that protect women and children from repeated episodes of acute malnutrition.
“This CERF allocation is the latest in a concerted effort to address the food and nutrition crisis. In May 2022 CERF allocated $15 million to support the catastrophic food insecurity and nutrition response.
“In September, the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF) provided two allocations of $2.5 million and $1 million to enable humanitarian actors to provide urgent nutrition support in line with the interagency US$ 351 million multisector plan to address the desperate food and nutrition situation.
“These funds are being disbursed in the midst of an alarming lean season in which 4.1 million people across the north-east are facing the pain of hunger according to the Cadre Harmonisé food security and nutrition assessment.
Despite these efforts, there remains a massive funding gap. The Nutrition Sector has a lean season funding gap of $39 million, or 57 per cent.”
Schmale added, “We urgently need to close the funding gap to rapidly scale-up the response and implement immediate life-saving measures. For the thousands of children trying to survive, additional funding is needed today, not tomorrow.”
CERF is one of the fastest and most effective ways to ensure that urgently needed humanitarian assistance reaches people caught up in crises. Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005 as the United Nations global emergency response fund, CERF enables humanitarian responders to deliver life-saving assistance whenever and wherever crises strike.