February 27, 2019
Yemen: Joint INGO Message On Funding
In northeast Nigeria, the ongoing conflict between the Nigerian government and the terrorist group Boko Haram has left close to 2.2 million people displaced.
20,000
People killed during the conflict
8.4 million
In need of humanitarian assistance in Borno
2.2 million
Are internally displaced
Doctors of the World has been working in Nigeria since 2007
Our teams are currently responding to the ongoing insecurity that is affecting displaced communities in Borno state. Borno state has the highest numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the region, with an estimated 2.2 million people currently displaced there. The vast majority of the people we treat are those fleeing fierce fighting in the north.
At the onset of the crisis, our first clinics in the region opened in Garba Buzu and Kawarmella camps in October 2016. In 2021, Doctors of the World supported 7 clinics in Maiduguri, Jere, and Damboa where we provide access to primary healthcare, treatment for malnutrition, psychological support, and care for survivors of gender based violence (GBV). We further trained a total of 75 (40 male, 35 female) unique staff members during this project, including 30 community mobilizers and 45 medical staff, on a variety of health topics (GBV, MHPSS, nutrition, etc).
Each clinic that we operate is staffed by male and female clinicians, midwives, pharmacists, several nurses, registrars and employees to ensure crowd control. The majority of our patients are women and their children, so we focus on providing antenatal care, family planning, and healthy child development.
Our teams work closely with the Nigerian authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO) to host immunization campaigns for children. Each DotW-supported clinic in Borno’s IDP begins the day with a health and hygiene information session for anyone in the community who wishes to attend.
We also employ community health workers who go house to house providing health education. If they encounter someone who is unwell and has not yet visited the clinic, our health workers provide them with support and encourage them to get in touch with a member of our staff or to visit the clinic.
In 2021, Doctors of the World provided:
- Primary Care and Sexual & Reproductive Health services to 148,283 (43,643, male, 104,640 female, 85,157 IDP) beneficiaries,
- Nutrition services for 65,357 (20,300 male, 45,057 female) individuals,
- Integrated protection and MHPSS services to 52,111 (11,023 male, 41,088 female) individuals,
- With the support of community mobilizers, DotW was able to spread key messages about our intervention areas to over 774,309 individuals.
The situation in Borno remains far from secure
Although there has been an increase in humanitarian assistance to Borno state, the situation remains unstable.
Many families remain in limbo, unable to return to their homes, concerned about where they will find their next meal, and uncertain as to what the next day will bring.