SEO Riders:
– UN, UNICEF urge action amid rising aid-worker threats in Northeast
- – Nigeria faces $160M humanitarian funding gap as malnutrition surges
– Safeguarding women, girls, and responders central to World Humanitarian Day 2025
On World Humanitarian Day (19 August 2025), Nigeria echoed the global plea to “Act for Humanity”, spotlighting frontline humanitarian workers—especially women—and the communities they tirelessly support. In Maiduguri, UNICEF’s Field Office Chief, Francis Butichi, highlighted that while the region faces mounting threats from insecurity, flooding, and displacement, funding remains deeply inadequate. Of the US $255 million needed for 2025, only US $95 million has been received so far—leaving a crippling US$160 million funding gap. Despite this, UNICEF has reached over 1.3 million people, treated 340,000 children for severe malnutrition, provided safe water to 185,000 people, and enrolled 500,000 displaced children in school.
Moreover, the broader Nigerian humanitarian landscape is becoming increasingly perilous. Attacks on aid workers have escalated, with 31 reported major incidents in 2024 alone, showing Nigeria as one of the most dangerous countries for humanitarian personnel. In response, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres implored governments globally to uphold humanitarian protections under international law, reiterating that humanitarian workers must never be targeted—and those responsible must be held accountable.
