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Protection Crisis in NE Nigeria Turning Into Humanitarian Crisis

by Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA --

   Nigerian and U.N. officials say they can prevent the humanitarian
   crisis gripping northeast Nigeria from spinning out of control if the
   international community responds quickly to their plea for support.

   As part of its multi-billion dollar humanitarian appeal for 2017, the
   United Nations is asking for more than $1 billion to meet the needs of
   nearly seven million victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast
   Nigeria.

   This is more than double the 2016 appeal.

   Nigerian National Planning and Budget Minister of State Zainab Ahmed
   says the request for more money is due to the military's success in
   recovering communities that had been held by the militants.

   "But the paradox of the success is as these areas are recovered, we now
   are exposed to people that are in a very, very fragile state. So, the
   numbers keep changing as more communities are recovered," Ahmed said.

   The humanitarian operation will focus on the three most affected states
   - Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. The United Nations is scaling up its aid
   operations as the magnitude of the human suffering becomes apparent.

   U.N. Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator Peter Lundberg says the protection
   crisis under Boko Haram is rapidly turning into a food insecurity and
   nutrition crisis.

   "We have an opportunity to address the needs if we do them now, and if
   we get adequate resources to do it now we can actually stop something
   quite terrible from happening, and we want to avoid that at any cost,"
   Lundberg said.

   Lundberg added that there is no time to lose as many lives are at
   stake, with children particularly vulnerable. He said the U.N.
   Children's Fund warns the lives of many of the 400,000 severely
   malnourished children are at risk if they do not urgently receive
   desperately needed therapeutic feeding.