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Investing in women and girls must be central to global efforts towards sustainable peace and development in both Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations deputy chief said today.

“Both have dismayingly low levels of women’s political participation and are experiencing conflicts marked by extremely high levels of sexual- and gender-based violence,” said Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed as she updated the Security Council on her recent trip to the two African countries.

The trip, from 19 to 27 July, was “the first of its kind” because it focused entirely on the role of women in peace, security and development, she said.

The joint AU-UN high-level mission was undertaken by four African women, namely Ms. Mohammed, the UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, and the African Union (AU) Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, Bineta Diop.

The mission’s goal was to advance peace by advancing the equality, empowerment and well-being of women, which is in line with the Secretary-General’s vision and the relevant Security Council resolutions.

In both countries, Ms. Mohammed noted, the mission met with Heads of State, ministers, donors, diplomats, faith leaders, parliamentarian and the respective UN mission and country teams, spending the lion’s share of time with the women and girls most affected by conflicts, including through visits to camps for internally displaced persons.

The international community needs to better understand the role of women in development and peace building alongside the gender dimensions of conflict if our responses are to be effective UN deputy chief Amina Mohammed

While each country is unique, the situations share some commonalities, she said, noting that sexual violence is widespread in the DRC, and abductions, forced marriage and the use of women as suicide bombers have taken a terrible toll in northern Nigeria, where in the camps sexual exploitation, including in the form of “sex for food” is a new and alarming trend.

“The international community needs to better understand the role of women in development and peace building alongside the gender dimensions of conflict if our responses are to be effective,” she said.

Turning to country-specific matters, the UN deputy chief said that the mission was touched by the meeting with the schoolgirls, who were abducted in Nigeria’s Chibok and then released, after years in captivity, by the Boko Haram group.

“Their remarkable strength as survivors rather than victims is inspiring. Many are receiving education and psychosocial support to prepare them for reintegration,” Ms. Mohammed said, noting that thousands of other young women who have been subjected to sexual violence and affected by conflict in other ways are still to receive adequate support.

The United Nations health agency estimates that if more funds are secured, up to 10,000 lives in Nigeria could be saved by November through targeted steps in malaria prevention and control.

To manage malaria in the Borno state of north-eastern Nigeria, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners are strengthening surveillance systems to monitor cases and outbreaks; increasing people’s access to care in clinics and to health facilities; spraying insecticides and distributing bed nets as part of vector control; and administering malaria drugs to children under five every month from July to October.

Following more than eight years of conflict in Borno, some 3.7 million people need humanitarian assistance – and all are at risk for malaria. WHO estimates that through October, 8,500 people are infected weekly – with more expected.

“The most effective way to reduce deaths in emergencies in fragile States, especially those facing malnutrition, is by boosting malaria prevention and control, however, this is often not viewed as the top priority during an emergency response,” said Dr. Pedro Alonso, Director of WHO’s Global Malaria Programme. “We are working with our WHO colleagues and many partners to change this.”

WHO estimates that over half of recorded deaths there are due to malaria – comprising more than all other diseases combined, including cholera, measles and hepatitis E. The vulnerable population, consisting of 58.8 per cent children, stands at risk of disease outbreaks.

With more than 60 per cent of health facilities only partially functioning, many people have no had access for years to regular health services, including vaccinations and basic medicines. In addition to security concerns, deadly malnutrition is rising in parts of the state.

Tackling health emergencies

“Malaria, malnutrition, fragile States and civil strife often feed each other,” said Dr. Alonso, adding: “Wherever we have a humanitarian crisis in a malaria endemic country, we can almost always be sure that malaria is the number one killer.”

However, malaria is preventable and curable, and increased efforts over the last 15 years have drastically reduced related mortality rates by more than 60 per cent, averting six million deaths.

Following a visit, WHO malaria experts commissioned a modelling exercise that concluded that joint actions could be prevent up to 10,000 deaths in Borno state alone.

In early July, the first of four monthly rounds of mass drug administration reached more than 880,000 of the 1.1 million under-age-five children targeted.

WHO hopes for $2.5 million to mobilize the emergency intervention and is relying on the existing polio vaccinator infrastructure to carry out the operation, which faces Boko Haram security threats.

“We will give one curative dose of antimalarial drugs to a defined population, in this case children under-five,” said Dr. Alonso. “In Borno state, we are giving an antimalarial drug to a child, whether they have malaria infection or not, to ensure they are cleared of parasites at that point and to protect them for four weeks. It’s a necessary temporary fix to reduce malaria deaths for the next six months.”

WHO has trained community health workers to offer rapid and read diagnostic tests, provide treatment and advise on prevention.

“We will not know the full impact of our efforts until November, but we are confident that taking these steps will go a long way in reducing deaths and suffering of people from malaria so they can get on with their lives,” said Dr. Wondi Alemu, WHO Representative in Nigeria.

Via UN News Centre

Calling for immediate humanitarian action amid rising malnutrition, thirst and disease, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today that millions of lives are at risk in four countries stretching from Africa to the Middle East.

The welcome announcement of an end to famine conditions in South Sudan earlier this week should not distract from the severe food insecurity that continues to put the lives of millions of children at risk in north-east Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, said UNICEF.

“The crisis is far from over and we must continue to scale up our response and insist on unconditional humanitarian access, otherwise the progress made could be rapidly undone,” said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Director for Emergency Programmes, in a press statement.

“There is no room for complacency,” he continued. “While famine has been reversed in South Sudan, the lives of millions of children are still hanging by a thread.”

In north-east Nigeria, Boko Haram violence continues to contribute to large-scale population displacement, limit market activity and restrict normal livelihoods. Around 5.2 million people remain severely food insecure, with 450,000 children expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year. With deteriorating road conditions and flooding making populations harder to reach, the rainy season will further complicate the humanitarian response and raise the risk of water-borne diseases.

The fragile Somali population, battered by conflict, is facing further exposure to prolonged drought. An estimated 275,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition in 2017, making them nine times more likely to die of diseases such as cholera, acute watery diarrhoea and measles, which are spreading through the country.

After a scaled-up humanitarian response, famine in South Sudan has eased, according to new analysis released this week. However, the situation remains dire across a country where some six million people struggle to find enough food each day – the highest level of food insecurity ever experienced there. This year, an estimated 276,000 South Sudanese children will be severely malnourished.

In Yemen, an estimated 400,000 children are severely malnourished as an unprecedented cholera outbreak – with over 175,000 suspected cases and more than 1,000 deaths to date –has complicated the ongoing humanitarian response. Some of the children who have become ill or died from cholera were already suffering from malnutrition, which had weakened their immune systems.

Moreover, Yemen’s healthcare system is on the brink of collapse, with hospitals and treatment centres struggling to cope amid dwindling medicines and medical supplies. As the conflict continues, famine is a possible worst-case scenario.

Beyond these four countries, food, water and health crises are endangering hundreds of thousands of children across the Greater Horn of Africa, the Lake Chad Basin and the Sahel.

This year, UNICEF is working with partners to provide therapeutic and life-saving food treatment to severely malnourished children in Nigeria (314,000), South Sudan (200,000), Somalia (200,000) and Yemen (320,000).

UNICEF is also restoring and equipping health facilities, developing medical and nutritional supply pipelines and providing clean and safe water to vulnerable children and families.

Via UN News Centre

Staff members from the United Nations Information Center in Lagos introduced more than 2,500 students to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals at a special workshop at Nurul Hudda Primary School in Tudun Wada Zaria, Nigeria, recently.

UNIC Lagos Director Ronald Kayanja and National Information Officer Oluseyi Soremekun explained each of the goals and briefed the students on the UN’s work in promoting global peace and development. By the end of the session, students tested were able to name at least three of the goals.

The event was the first such outreach programme held in northwest Nigeria.

Via UNIC Lagos

The UN chief travelled over the weekend to Abuja, Nigeria, where today he met the States Governors, who can play a “fundamental role” in shaping the future of their country by implementing the sustainable development agenda Members States will adopt in a month in New York.

“You have the resources and the power to help the people of Nigeria realize the tremendous promise of this great country – on education, on health care, on women”s empowerment, on climate change, on governance, institution-building, security and on rights across the board,” stated Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his remarks.

Stressing that he was speaking at a time of great challenges – including the rise of extremism and the lack of equal opportunity –, he acknowledged that the Governors of the Northeast, in particular Borno State, Mr. Ban assured that this was also a “time of hope,” as the peaceful democratic transition of power in Nigeria showed.

Reminding Governors that, over the past few weeks, UN Member States agreed on a new financing for development plan and on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, he pointed out that the latter would be adopted be formally adopted by world leaders in New York in September, while governments will meet in Paris in December to agree on a new far-reaching climate change agreement.

“Together, these three processes provide an opportunity to put the world on a sustainable pathway fostering human prosperity while protecting our planet,” the Secretary-General continued.

In that regard, local governments have an important role to play in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, he added, emphasizing five essential ways for Nigeria to “build on your advances and sustain that momentum.”

First, the universal framework will have to be tailored to national circumstances to live up to its promise to be an agenda “of the people, for the people, and by the people” that leaves no one behind. Sub-national and local governments, he assured, will play a major role in the national tailoring process and in ensuring that this process is participatory and inclusive.

“Second, we need to work together to establish a revitalized global partnership for development. Each of you is crucial for engaging local civil society organizations and the private sector in the implementation of the goals at local level.”

Third, the UN top official explained, sub-national and local governments can help ensure that the limited available funds are targeted at the most vulnerable and marginalized who are often hard to reach, in particular ensuring health, education, empowerment and equality for women and girls.

“That leads to my fourth point – institutionalizing gender mainstreaming across all government ministries and bodies responsible for implementing agenda 2030, with effective means of implementation and capacities for monitoring progress.”

Fifth, he noted, Governors can support the follow-up and review process by “feeding inputs” directly into the review and by helping to ensure the quality of data by investing in institutions and using big data to inform better planning and decision making.

“Accurate data will also allow us to better respond to new and unforeseen challenges,” Mr. Ban observed.

“This is a crucial moment for Nigeria. You face many serious challenges, but you have also taken a hugely important step to move forward in a way that can respond to the aspirations of the country”s people. I am eager to hear your views on how you think you can best achieve this universal and ambitious agenda,” he concluded.

via UN News Centre

About 57 per cent of all schools are closed in Nigeria’s Borno state, worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency and the subsequent humanitarian crisis, leaving an estimated 3 million children in need of emergency education support, even as the new school year begins, the United Nations child agency said today.

“Children in northeast Nigeria are living through so much horror,” said Justin Forsyth, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in a press release on his three-day visit to Maiduguri, the epicentre of the crisis.

Since 2009, over 2,295 teachers have been killed and 19,000 have been displaced across the northeast. Almost 1,400 schools have been destroyed with the majority unable to open because of extensive damage or because they are in areas that remain unsafe.

The use of children as human bombs has sown a climate of mistrust among communities in the northeast, and a cholera outbreak has affected more than 3,900 people, including over 2,450 children.

“In addition to devastating malnutrition, violence and an outbreak of cholera, the attacks on schools are in danger of creating a lost generation of children, threatening their and the countries future,” Mr. Forsyth added.

However, some displaced children in Borno state are benefiting from education for the first time in their lives. In the Muna Garage camp on the outskirts of Maiduguri, an estimated 90 per cent of students are enrolled in school for the first time.

In the three most-affected states of northeast Nigeria, UNICEF and partners have enrolled nearly 750,000 children in school this year, establishing over 350 temporary learning spaces, and distributing almost 94,000 packs of learning material that will help children to get an education.

UNICEF is also working with partners to rehabilitate schools and classrooms and training teachers to build a stronger education system for the future.

UNICEF’s life-saving emergency programmes in northeast Nigeria remain underfunded. With only three months left in the year, UNICEF has a 40 per cent finding gap in its needs for 2017.

Via UN News Centre