Introduction
The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA), an international medical humanitarian organization based in Dakar (Senegal), established a presence in Nigeria in May 2016 following alarming reports from national and international organizations on the humanitarian situation in the country. After establishing all the necessary links with Federal, State and LGA authorities, a first joint fourday exploratory mission to Monguno, Borno State, with the local PHC team took place mid-June in the wake of the city becoming accessible again since the beginning of the crisis. In light of the positive outcome of the mission (see below for more details), an ALIMA coordination team was set up in Maiduguri to support the implementation of two medical projects, one in Monguno (since July 2016) and one within the IDP and host communities of the Muna area (since August 2016), East of Maiduguri (Jere LGA). ALIMA is officially registered in Nigeria as an NGO since September 6th, 2016, four months after the process was started. This report aims at providing an insight of ALIMA’s activities in Borno State since July 2016.
Operational Context
At least 2.4 M people have been displaced by Boko Haram-related violence, with 1.82 M originating from Borno State alone, according to OCHA in Nigeria. These populations remain highly vulnerable with regard to food security, malnutrition, WASH and shelter issues. The needs assessment coupled with a measles vaccination conducted in June 2016 in Monguno, as mentioned above, resulted in 18,812 children being vaccinated against measles and distributed vitamin A. The parallel MUAC screening, conducted on 12 190 children, revealed an alarming 13% of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), 19% of Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) and an overall GAM rate of 32%. The SAM and GAM rates were much higher than the standard indicators of 5% and 20% respectively. In light of these figures and of a target population of approximately 40,000 children aged between 6 and 59 months, ALIMA estimated that more than 4,800 SAM children were in immediate risk of death in Monguno. Rapid assessments carried out in Muna Village (Jere LGA, East of Maiduguri Town) revealed alarming rates of malnutrition as well, combined with a dire situation with regard to WASH and shelter for tens of thousands of both IDPs and host community members.