The Start Fund will support ActionAid and Christian Aid to provide assistance to internally displaced people (IDPs) in Nigeria. The alert was raised on Tuesday and funding was transferred within 72 hours to the implementing agencies to begin their response on Friday. This is the second Start Fund activation for Nigeria, following a £65,000 disbursement in October 2014 for a cholera outbreak.
There are currently 1.2 million IDPs in Nigeria, according to the briefing note produced by ACAPS in response to the alert. The majority of these people were forced to flee their homes as a result of attacks from Boko Haram, and the violence resulting from the Nigerian military response. This displacement is concentrated in the North East of the country and has been further exacerbated by communal clashes between farmers and cattle herdsmen in competition over grazing land. In the North Eastern Taraba state, it has in fact been estimated that up to 80% of the IDPs have been displaced by these communal clashes. Not only do these people face a lack of food, water and shelter; they are also in need of urgent support to deal with the consequences of the trauma they have experienced.
However, the limited resources of the local communities are already overstretched. The briefing note provided by Development Initiatives described how there is a limited presence of humanitarian actors in the North East, “due not only to insecurity but also to a lack of donor funding.” The Start Fund Allocation Committee met on Wednesday and agreed that “this was an opportunity for the Start Fund to respond to the forgotten periphery of a larger emergency in Nigeria.” The Fund was activated for a total envelope of £250,000.
Proposals were assessed by a project selection committee convened in Abuja, Nigeria, comprised of local staff from International Medical Corps, Christian Aid, CAFOD, ActionAid and Tearfund. A member of the Start Team also joined via Skype to provide guidance and support. The committee unanimously agreed to fund both proposals received, allocating £130,886 to Christian Aid and £89,100 to ActionAid.
Together, these agencies hope to reach 21,100 people in the vulnerable Plateau, Nassarawa, Kaduna, Benue and Taraba states. The two agencies will distribute food, non-food items and nutritional supplements and will provide shelter and psycho-social support.
Photo: Save the Children