All three million children in Borno state in Northeast Nigeria are without school indefinitely, increasing the likelihood of child marriage and other protection risks, after being hit by the worst floods in 30 years, Save the Children said [1].

More than 400,000 people have been uprooted from their homes across the state and tens of thousands of children are crammed into the buildings that have avoided damage, such as schools, as well as displacement camps. With little to no clean water and sanitation, diseases like cholera and diarrhea are spreading rapidly – among a population made vulnerable by high rates of malnutrition.

Data from last year showed 60% of children under five were already suffering from either moderate or severe acute malnutrition – and with stretches of farmland now destroyed by floodwater, this figure will likely increase without urgent action, Save the Children said.

Heavy rains have damaged 30 of Nigeria’s 36 states over the past month, killing 269 people and forcing 640,000 people from their homes [2]. In Borno state, heavy rains last week led to a breach in Alau Dam, which submerged half of the entire city of Maiduguri. Many of those affected had already been forced to move several times due to years of armed conflict, kidnappings and the impacts of climate change.

Borno state, with a population of about 6 million, is particularly vulnerable to impacts of the climate crisis, with creeping desertification swallowing up farmland in recent years, affecting the ability of communities to grow food. Several studies show that drought and desertification increase flood risk when there are heavy rains.

Following last week’s devastating floods, dozens of children are showing up in camps separated from their families, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, Save the Children said. Now that schools have been closed across the entire state, millions will be exposed to a higher risk of child labour, early marriage and other forms of abuse, and are more likely to be trapped in a cycle of poverty in the long term.

Ibrahim, 14, from Borno state, said that children need world leaders to urgently ramp up climate action. He said: “Climate action needs to be prioritised. We don’t have another planet. Climate change is real and affects every single facet of our lives. It’s time to transition from actions to result.”

Duncan Harvey, Country Director of Save the Children in Nigeria, has just visited Maiduguri in Borno state. He said:

“This is a crisis upon a crisis – in an area where the creeping impacts of climate change were already putting food and clean water out of reach and malnutrition and disease was already rife among children.

“I have worked in the humanitarian sector for over 20 years and still, what I saw in Maiduguri shocked me to my core. Hundreds of thousands of children are crammed side by side in camps with no clean water, sanitation, food or healthcare. They are terrified and have lost everything – their homes, their belongings, sometimes their families.

“One of the most distressing things I saw was in one displacement camp where 22 children had been separated from their families. We are now making efforts with other agencies to reunify these children with family members, along with other strands of work to support affected children – but we need help from the Borno State Government and the federal government so that we can increase our support, and we need urgent funding from the international community.”

Save the Children is working in flood-affected communities in Maiduguri, providing lifesaving response and rehabilitation of affected communities. This includes providing cash assistance, setting up health and nutrition outreach services, the rehabilitation of sanitation facilities, and conducting hygiene promotion and community awareness raising.

In the global response to the climate crisis, Save the Children is calling for national governments to rapidly phase out the use and subsidy of fossil fuels and ensure a just and equitable transition in order to limit warming temperatures to 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels.

Leaders must also include the voices, needs and rights of children, particularly those affected by inequality and discrimination, in the global response to climate change, including in climate finance from higher-income countries to lower-income countries. At a practical level, this includes ensuring buildings like schools are more resilient to extreme weather events such as flooding so that children can learn safely.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children.

Achol Deng has been sick with stomach pain for days. Her son has malaria and a bad cough.

She has been unable to access to healthcare because of a scarcity of medical centers in Kuajok and the wider Warrap region. Many facilities were destroyed during the conflict that raged across South Sudan in 2013 and 2016 and are yet to be rebuilt due to the ongoing dire economic situation.

To provide relief to Achol and other residents, Bangladeshi peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan provided a free medical camp that treated more than 100 people with various ailments, including malaria, which is rampant during the rainy season.  

Bangladesh medical officer, Major Shadid Al-Amin, said the aim was to support the most vulnerable and build a strong relationship between the peacekeeping mission and the communities it serves.

“We are here to serve to the best of our ability,” he said. “We hope to have made a difference to their lives.”

One of the beneficiaries, 60-year-old Anei Kuol, had been suffering pain for three days without treatment when he arrived at the temporary medical facility.

“It is a relief to finally get the care that I need,” he said.

A public health officer from the Kuajok Ministry of Health, Ngor Bol Majok, said the continued support from the Bangladeshi peacekeepers provided a lifeline for many community members who are struggling to survive financially, let alone to access the medical care they need to live healthy and productive lives.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

“I have not seen my husband since 2016. I have eight children to take care of, and I don’t know what the future holds. Still, it is our shared difficulties that make us strong”.

Mariam Suna* is one of thousands of women who sought sanctuary from the United Nations peacekeeping mission, UNMISS, when violent conflict broke out in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

Today, the camp is no longer under United Nations protection. Since 2020, the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission has been managing the camp and the Government has had primary responsibility for providing security for the 34,000 people who remain resident.

Mariam eloquently explained the challenges she still faces as well as the sense of community that has developed within the camp to representatives of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, who are on a goodwill mission to hear their concerns and help advocate for support.

“I have been in charge of women in this camp in such a way that they come and share their challenges with me, and I forward these concerns to the organisations providing support in the camp,” she said. “But this was not by choice. I found myself here and thought I must do something to help.”

Speaking on behalf of the women she represents, Mariam said living conditions in the camp are poor and security is unreliable.

“Women are attacked by unknown people. People go missing, phones are stolen, and when it rains, we cannot stay in our shelters,” she said.

“We will not be quiet. When cases are reported, we put victims in touch with groups that can help them. Our strength comes from having to work together and speaking up to make our difficulties known.”

*Christina Jalu, who describes herself as a human rights volunteer, adds that a young woman who is already nursing a child is now pregnant again, following a reported case of sexual assault.

“The shame stops her from asking for help,” she said. “There are the times when my strength is tested, and I wonder if I am helping the women here. All I can do is provide counselling because many of the women need long-term support, but in terms of practical help, I’m at a loss.”

The women face immense challenges, including exposure to crime, lack of access to basic services, an inability to return to their original homes, and uncertainty about their future. However, these difficulties have  also created a common bond and enabled the development of a strong support network for women across the camp.

“We are fighting against forced marriages, advocating for our rights, and dreaming of a day when our voices will shape the laws that govern us”, states Christina.

“My message to the leadership of South Sudan is that they should use our experiences to inform policy making, to monitor human rights violations, and work with us to build a future where no woman lives in fear.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) launched the “Breeding Broiler Production Project” to reduce Somalia’s reliance on imported chicken meat.

As part of the Project for Developing Layer Poultry Farming in Somalia, launched in 2020 through a collaboration between TİKA and Zamzam University’s Anatolian Faculty of Agriculture, a poultry house and hatchery facility were constructed within the faculty. Building on this initiative, a Feed Production Center was established in 2023 at City University’s Faculty of Agriculture in the capital, Mogadishu.

In the next phase of the project, the “Breeding Broiler Production Project” was implemented to reduce Somalia’s reliance on imported chicken meat.

Breeding Broiler Chicken Production stages

A total of 5,900 mother and father line eggs of Anadolu-T, Türkiye’s domestic broiler breed, are brought from Türkiye and incubated at the faculty’s facility. After thorough inspections by Turkish experts, the hatched chicks are transferred to breeder poultry houses for further growth and care.

In addition, a training program was organized for the students and lecturers of the Faculty of Agriculture, providing a detailed explanation of the stages of chicken production.

The project aims to make Somalia self-sufficient in broiler production and contribute to the development of the livestock sector.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).