As the UN Security Council focuses on the regional military effort against Boko Haram, Action Against Hunger is deeply concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in northeast Nigeria. Over 1.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes and are in desperate need of assistance. Action Against Hunger already recorded an increase of children under five treated for severe acute malnutrition in the health facilities it supports, and expects that the trend will continue. In the coming months, over 3.5 million people in northeast Nigeria are at risk of facing acute levels of food insecurity. Action Against Hunger calls on the Government of Nigeria and the international community to protect and assist the over 1.5 million people still uprooted in Nigeria and unable to return home.

The humanitarian crisis is expected to continue for the next two or three years. Despite the scale of the crisis, few NGOs are providing assistance in northeast Nigeria. Operational humanitarian organizations are not able to scale up to full capacity and new agencies are unable to start operations because of underfunding by donors. Levels of financial support to the crisis are well below requirements. The current humanitarian response is failing to provide the food, water, healthcare, and protection that people so desperately need.

“Action Against Hunger has significantly scaled up its operations in the past year, but the humanitarian needs are immense, and we are able to assist only a small portion of those in need. We urge the international community to partner with both the Nigerian government and humanitarian agencies working in northeastern Nigeria to improve the response to this neglected crisis,” said Yannick Pouchalan, Action Against Hunger's country director in Nigeria.

Action Against Hunger is working in two states in northeastern Nigeria—Borno and Yobe—focusing on the immediate needs that have emerged following the waves displacement and providing critical humanitarian multi-sectorial assistance including treatment of severe acute malnutrition, food aid, non-food items, shelter, economic recovery activities, and water, sanitation and hygiene projects, using market-sensitive and capacity building approaches.

In the past several months, discussions about the humanitarian crisis in northeastern Nigeria have focused on people returning to their homes. Given the ongoing attacks on civilians in the northeast, conditions for safe return are not yet in place. Assistance must focus on protecting and assisting people until they are able to return safely to their homes.