Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

Vulnerable people affected by conflict in the Lake Chad Basin Region are able to meet their basic needs, notably regarding food, access to water and sanitation facilities.

Expected results

The overall program of the ICRC in the Region aims to reach the following:

- 313,980 vulnerable people, including refugees, IDPs, returnees and residents, will be able to cover part of their dietary needs to help ease their situation, notably through livelihood support initiatives as well as cash-transfer schemes

- 203,000 people will have access to a safe water supply and sanitation facilities

- 21,000 wounded (including victims of sexual violence and other abuses), sick and physically disabled people will have access, if needed, to appropriate treatment and services at primary health care clinics, hospitals and physical rehabilitation centers supported by the ICRC.

Target group / Beneficiaries

With a contribution of EUR 1,000,000 the ICRC will be able to reach the following results for a total of 29,303 people:

- 17,102 vulnerable people, including refugees, IDPs, returnees and residents, will be able to cover part of their dietary needs to help ease their situation, notably through livelihood support initiatives as well as cash-transfer schemes

- 11,057 people have access to safe water supply and sanitation facilities

- 1,144 wounded (including victims of sexual violence and other abuses), sick and physically disabled people will have access, if needed, to appropriate treatment and services at primary health care clinics, hospitals and physical rehabilitation centers supported by the ICRC.

The ICRC implements its program in close cooperation with the National Red-Cross Societies of Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria.

Activities

Economic Security:

? help refugees, IDPs and other vulnerable people affected by conflict/other violence meet their urgent needs by distributing up to three months’ worth of food to and household essentials; where markets are functioning, provide cash for purchasing these goods instead, to stimulate commerce.

? help returnees and other conflict-affected people strengthen their resilience to the effects of conflict/other violence by donating agricultural supplies/equipment to selected households enabling them to resume farming or improve their yields; where feasible, provide cash or vouchers for purchasing these instead.

Health:

? help people obtain basic health services – including ante/post-natal, treatment for victims of sexual violence and pediatric care – that meet national/international standards by working with the health ministries to support an additional primary-health-care facility in a remote, underserved area; specifically:

o provide equipment/supplies, financial incentives, training, and technical support

o give malnourished children’s families therapeutic food for home-based treatment, and provide inpatient care when needed

o with local health authorities, organize immunization campaigns in violence-prone areas to help protect children from disease

o train a group of women in disseminating messages related to reproductive health and referring those in need of such care to the appropriate facilities

Water and habitat:

? help refugees, IDPs and other vulnerable people in conflict/violence-affected communities ease their living conditions:

o upgrade water systems in urban areas, and construct/install/repair hand pumps and other facilities in rural areas; establish community maintenance committees and provide them and water board authorities with training/supplies

o construct latrines while conducting hygiene-promotion and cleaning campaigns, especially during cholera season

o truck in water during emergencies

o set up emergency shelters and help reconstruct houses for returnees.

Context

The conflict between Cameroonian, Chadian, Nigerian, and Nigerien defense and security forces (both as individual parties and together, as part of the Multinational Joint Task Force, or MNJTF) and the armed group that calls itself Islamic State’s West Africa Province (also known as Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad or Boko Haram), or ISWAPg, persists. Since the start of 2017, the MNJTF has intensified its operations, retaking areas held by ISWAPg. However, ISWAPg has continued to carry out bombings, crossborder raids and other forms of asymmetric warfare.

An estimated 11 million people across the Lake Chad region are suffering the dire consequences of this protracted conflict. Large-scale displacement has taken place in the countries affected, and abuses, such as attacks on civilians and civilian objects, forced recruitment and sexual violence, are reportedly widespread. As humanitarian access to some areas has gradually improved, the grim situation in the affected communities – mainly in Nigeria’s north-eastern states (Adamawa, Borno and Yobe), Cameroon’s Far North region, Chad’s Lac region and Niger’s Diffa region – has become more apparent.

In particular, conflict-stricken communities, especially those in remote areas where few humanitarian actors are able to operate, are facing acute food insecurity, which has led to a rising incidence of malnutrition among civilians and detainees. Because of resource constraints, health-care facilities are hard-pressed to provide adequate care to malnourished or sick people. Some facilities have been looted and damaged during clashes, further reducing the availability of health services. People attempting to return home struggle with the lack of means to rebuild their livelihoods. Members of dispersed families, including unaccompanied minors, have difficulty re-establishing contact.

Other humanitarian actors are working to step up their assistance efforts, but are hampered by security constraints and funding shortfalls. Furthermore, owing to the economic situation in Nigeria, commodities there now cost nearly twice as much as the ICRC had projected during its planning process for 2017.