The UNICEF has secured a four-year supply of the newly WHO-approved R21/Matrix-M vaccine that could revolutionize malaria prevention, especially in Africa where 90% of fatalities occur.



Malaria, one of the most widely-known parasitic diseases to mankind, takes the life of a child every minute according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, with almost 620,000 deaths per year. A staggering 241 million people contract the disease annually, illustrating the global scope of this public health crisis.



Now, a new vaccine has joined the world in the fight against the disease, having obtained WHO approval earlier this month. The United Nations Children&#8217;s Fund (UNICEF) has entered into an agreement to procure a four-year supply of the newly approved R21/Matrix-M vaccine from mid-2024.



The new vaccine is a product of over 35 years of vaccine research, a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India, notable in that it is only the second malaria vaccine approved for public use. The first, known as RTS,S, initiated the ground-breaking work in this field but was less efficacious.



Dubbed R21/Matrix-M, it is the first to surpass a 75% efficacy rate, providing protection of up to two years against symptomatic malaria with a single booster – which could be a ground-breaking shift in the fight to eradicate the disease, particularly on the African continent, where some 90% of the fatalities from the illness occur.



&#8220;It is heartbreaking and unacceptable that almost half a million children die of malaria every year. This agreement is a critical step towards protecting more children from this deadly disease,&#8221; said Director of UNICEF Supply Division Leila Pakkala in a press statement announcing the signing of UNICEF&#8217;s supply agreement.



The obtaining of the WHO&#8217;s endorsement earlier this month was critical to allow international bodies such as UNICEF to begin procuring the vaccines, with WHO having vetted the safety profile and efficacy of R21/Matrix-M.



Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of India, commemorated the WHO endorsement in a press release: &#8220;For far too long, malaria has threatened the lives of billions of people across the globe, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable amongst us. This is why the WHO recommendation and approval of the R21/Matrix-MTM vaccine marks a huge milestone on our journey to combat this life-threatening disease.&#8221;



The Serum Institute of India has already begun to prepare the production capability to deliver up to 100 million doses per year, to be doubled in the coming two years.



Cost and Delivery



Critically, for a vaccine that aims to prevent severe disease primarily in lower-income countries, the R21/Matrix-M is expected to cost only between $2 and $4 per dose, with an initial regimen consisting of one dose every month for three months, and one booster within the next 12 months – meaning that a full treatment protocol offering high levels of protection for almost two years costs less than $16.



Countries have already begun to factor in the new vaccine into their epidemiological planning, with both Ghana and Nigeria having obtained approval for the vaccine&#8217;s use – Ghana too has begun establishing a vaccine factory in Accra for this purpose in collaboration with the Serum Institute of India.



The Path Forward



Despite the leaps in vaccine development, challenges persist. While vaccines like R21/Matrix-M are revolutionary, they are not the final answer to a disease as complex and historically persistent as malaria. In the interim, nations continue to deploy traditional methods like insecticides, improved housing, and swamp drainage, especially in regions where malaria remains prevalent. It&#8217;s also worth mentioning that mRNA technology, catalyzed by COVID-19 research, holds the promise of even more effective vaccines in the future.



Global efforts have already made significant strides; the WHO reports a 90% decline in malaria mortality rates in the 20th century, but with many in the world still suffering under high rates of the disease, the new vaccine could be key in reducing fatalities in the years to come.

R21-Vaccination (11 of 20); image credit University of Oxford, Tom Wilkinson

The Vaccine That Could Turn The Tide On Malaria In Africa, Where The Disease Is One Of The Biggest Killers

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Women-UN-Peacekeeping-Mission.2-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46609" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Women-UN-Peacekeeping-Mission.2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Women-UN-Peacekeeping-Mission.2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Women-UN-Peacekeeping-Mission.2-600x338.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Women-UN-Peacekeeping-Mission.2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Women-UN-Peacekeeping-Mission.2.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Female peacekeepers are great assets to the UN. A Rwandan police officer is greeted warmly by women and children while on patrol in Gao, Mali.Photo: UN Photo/Marco Dormino</figcaption></figure>



“The vision and promise of the United Nations is that food, healthcare, water and sanitation, education, decent work and social security are not commodities for sale to those who can afford them, but basic human rights to which we are all entitled.” Those were the poignant words of the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2020-07-18/secretary-generals-nelson-mandela-lecture-%E2%80%9Ctackling-the-inequality-pandemic-new-social-contract-for-new-era%E2%80%9D-delivered">in a hard hitting speech on 18 July 2020 to mark Mandela Day</a>.



For every staff of the United Nations family the Mandela speech by Mr. Guterres was powerful and inspirational. Speaking about the scourge of inequality, he said, “while we are all floating on the same sea, it’s clear that some are in superyachts while others are clinging to the drifting debris.”



For me, the United Nations (UN) is personal. Coming from a family rendered refugees due to the partition of India in 1947, as a child I benefited from its immunization programmes- <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/09/qa-we-need-a-decisive-win-against-polio/">I actually survived polio</a>. The UN’s work with the Government of India helped to eradicate smallpox and polio in my home country, where these diseases used to take a huge toll on lives and livelihoods.



Although forged in the crucible of wars and crippling ideological rivalries between East and West, the United Nations has since managed to convince the world of the need to compromise and to take each other&#8217;s views into account and to listen to others while facing humanity’s enduring challenges. That this has been achieved in just 75 years is remarkable.&nbsp;



In the narrative of the period when humanity made great social, cultural, and economic advances, the UN takes centre stage.&nbsp; For more than two decades during my service in the UN system, I have been part of this story and am convinced that the UN still matters, perhaps now more than ever.



While the calamitous cost of two World Wars and subsequent ideological fault-lines convinced humankind of the need for a body like the UN, the challenges facing us today remain just as formidable.&nbsp; As the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, it does not take much to upend not only individual lives, but entire societies and economies. There are numerous reasons for people to feel insecure in today’s world.&nbsp;



Among these are strong indications of resurgent nationalism and warning signs of ethnic and religious isolationism that not only threaten states, communities and individuals. Combined with humanitarian and climate disasters, these challenges have been articulated and framed for action as the Sustainable Development Goals that the UN is spearheading everywhere in the world.



Just as diplomacy was the basis for the establishment of the UN, <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20161101105441-eli9d/">my experience in the frontlines of combat operations</a> when I served in the Indian Army convinced me that there is a better way to solve conflicts.&nbsp; My early career in the UN was spent in countries almost defined by war and instability, such as Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Somalia.&nbsp; The images of men, women, and children driven from their homes by murder, rape, and the burning down of schools and homes is seared in my mind.



I am proud to have been part of the United Nations response to complex humanitarian challenges.  In Indonesia, for example, an innovation by the UN called a “school-in-a-box” helped children return to their regular school routine as quickly as possible during the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2946600.stm">conflict in Aceh when schools were being burned down</a>. We helped maintain immunization, reproductive health services, education as well as nutrition services, working in difficult and life-threatening situations in Darfur, Somalia, and Iraq. We <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j964XqRWfNI">demobilized child soldiers in the midst of a conflict in South Sudan</a>.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="605" height="334" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Child-soldiers.png" alt="" class="wp-image-46614" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Child-soldiers.png 605w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Child-soldiers-300x166.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Child-soldiers-600x331.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 605px) 100vw, 605px" /><figcaption>Child soldiers of the Sudan People&#8217;s Liberation Army march away after surrendering their weapons during a demobilization ceremony at the army barracks in Malou, South Sudan, in Feb. 25, 2001. Under an agreement with UNICEF, the SPLA demobilized 3551 child soldiers aged between eight and 18. UNICEF airlifted them away from combat zones to safe havens in Rumbek, South Sudan. Photo- UNICEF/OLS</figcaption></figure>



With the Coronavirus pandemic raging, <a href="https://unsdg.un.org/latest/stories/9-ways-un-teams-around-world-are-fighting-covid-19">UN country teams all over the world</a> are working tirelessly with their respective host governments to flatten the curve.



In various countries today, internecine conflicts, hunger, and disease continue to take a tragic toll, especially among the world&#8217;s children. The malignant neglect of our global environment threatens all of us.&nbsp; The UN retains unprecedented respect, acceptance, and mobilizing capacity to rally member states to act together to solve these problems.



The nature of today’s challenges compels us towards integration and collaboration. Humankind must find new ways to work together more effectively in pursuit of our collective interests and to think anew about how our institutions of international cooperation can be strengthened.



The UN has enabled many member states to embark on transformational journeys; life expectancy is rising, jobs being created, and people lifted out of poverty. Yet in many others, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, progress is fragile and unequal. The UN constantly seeking new models that are inclusive and sustainable, and is opening up new opportunities to harness big data, technology and innovation to <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/01/kenya-leapfrogging-4-sdgs-building-bridges-silicon-savannah-silicon-valley/">leapfrog development, through ground breaking partnerships with the private sector</a>.&nbsp;



Many factors have sometimes stymied the United Nations’ work. These range from reliability of funding to the difficulties of achieving consensus between diverse member states on complex topics. Such factors have sometimes made us slow and limited our impact.



Antonio Guterres has said that “worldwide consultation process around the 75th anniversary of the United Nations has made clear that people want a global governance system that delivers for them”.&nbsp; Therefore the bold reforms underway, led by Mr Guterres, will make the organization more nimble, better equipped and prepared to deal with contemporary challenges.



<a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/01/united-nations-reforms-ideas-actions/">UN country teams are adapting to new realities in their programmes</a>, reflecting the shifts (such as peacekeeping to peace-building) through social and economic development support and humanitarian relief.



In Kenya, the country’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta is spearheading the charge to eradicate female genital mutilation supported by the United Nations. I have seen firsthand the reduction in maternal and infant mortality due to complications at childbirth, universal access to primary education and better a collective push to achieve universal health coverage.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1140" height="582" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FGM.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46613" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FGM.jpg 1140w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FGM-300x153.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FGM-600x306.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FGM-1024x523.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FGM-768x392.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px" /><figcaption>Aisha Hussein and her team pose for a picture during the youth caravan in Isiolo as part of a joint UNFPA-UNICEF initiative to eradicate FGM. UNICEF Kenya</figcaption></figure>



I continue to see the promise of peace and prosperity for the most vulnerable &nbsp;marginalized that comes with the UN’s work, such as the Kenya Uganda cross border initiative to promote peace and development in the Karamoja area, mired in rivalry over scant resources and experiencing the debilitating impact of climate change. <a href="https://medium.com/@amina_mohammed/finding-common-ground-to-fight-climate-change-baa911e5ee1c">Amina Mohammed the UN Deputy Secretary General said</a>, “It’s exciting to see the new ways in which governments, communities and partners are coming together with UN teams to mobilize across borders especially when it comes to taking climate action”.



COVID-19 has confirmed that the era of national problems is receding fast, by revealing national and global fragilities to an invisible virus. The pandemic is a stark reminder of the need for cooperation across borders, sectors and generations.



Today we can see that most challenges are global and interconnected, and can only be tackled through global action coordinated through global institutions.



At the signing of the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/sections/history-united-nations-charter/1945-san-francisco-conference/index.html">United Nations Charter, in San Francisco in 1945</a>, the President of the United States of America, Harry Truman said, “If we fail to use it, we shall betray all those who have died so that we might meet here in freedom and safety to create it. If we seek to use it selfishly &#8211; for the advantage of any one nation or any small group of nations — we shall be equally guilty of that betrayal”.



Those farsighted leaders who founded the United Nations 75 years ago gave us the momentum to propel humanity to greater security and prosperity. Today, the UN continues to be a sound investment, a real beacon of hope.



Siddharth Chatterjee is the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya. He has served in various parts of the world with UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, UNOPS, UN Peacekeeping and the Red Cross Movement. A decorated Special Forces veteran, he is an alumnus of Princeton University. Follow him on twitter-<a href="https://twitter.com/sidchat1?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@sidchat1</a>

The United Nations At 75 Remains The World’s Moral Compass

From babyhood to adulthood, children are exposed to many forms of violence, no matter where they live.
Black adolescent boys in the United States are 19 times more likely to die than white boys of the same age, and face a similar risk of dying as their peers in the conflict zones of South Sudan. Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest child murder rates in the world. Around 300 million two-to-four-year-olds globally will experience physical punishment or verbal abuse by their parents or caretakers. And at least 15 million girls will have been sexually abused or raped by their 19th birthdays.
These are just some of the alarming findings of two wide-ranging global reports on violence against children. Both reports point to two major challenges: getting countries to gather better data on the various types of violence against children, which so often happens inside the home and/or by people known to the children, and taking steps to put an end to it.
There are still big gaps in knowledge, with many countries completely in the dark about the extent to which their child citizens are victims of violence. Even countries with better statistics have no idea how much corporal punishment happens in homes for example, or of the extent to which boys experience physical and sexual violence. All too often, violence against children is shrouded in secrecy.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/01/17/calling-sexual-harrassment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Calling Out Sexual Harassment</a>
Know Violence in Childhood, a global initiative to end violence against children, released a detailed report informed by 44 research papers, thousands of articles, reports and other sources. Although the report presents a global picture, the authors state that “reliable data on inter-personal violence in childhood are difficult to obtain. This is partly because such violence takes place within relationships and is hidden by a strong culture of silence”. And many children and women are reluctant to report violence because of the stigma and fear of repercussions.
UNICEF’s report, A Familiar Face: Violence in the Lives of Children and Adolescents, builds on their seminal 2014 report on child violence statistics, Hidden in Plain Sight, which compiled data from 190 countries. Their new report contains updated statistics and analysis and notes that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include targets to wipe out violence against children by 2030, offer the potential get better data on the crimes, ensure that monitoring takes place, that countries are held to account and most importantly, that they take proactive steps to stop it.
Although much more information is now available on violence against children than it was a few years ago, the gaps make it hard to compare countries with each other and for states to report and measure their progress on the SDGs.
Goal 5 (gender equality) and Goal 16 (peace) contain specific targets aimed at stopping violence against children but many of the other goals indirectly address some of the drivers of this violence too, including poverty, lack of education and poor health.
Nevertheless, if more progress is not made and if current trends continue, “close to two million children and adolescents could be killed by an act of violence by the year 2030”, warn the authors of the UNICEF report. And whether violence ends in death or not, the effects of pervasive and various forms of abuse throughout childhood have an insidious impact on society in general, says Know Violence Global Co-Chair A.K. Shiva Kumar.
“From severe physical punishment to sexual abuse to homicide, childhood violence damages individuals, families and communities in both rich countries and poor, with a cost in trillions of dollars a year.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/10/16/oprah-keeping-promise-made-mandela/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Oprah Keeping The Promise Made To Mandela</a>
Violence against children is closely tied up with violence against women. Children who see their mothers abused will more likely perpetrate violence themselves, warn the experts.
Childhood violence occurs in many forms – corporal punishment in the home and at school; physical, sexual and emotional abuse by adults or peers.
“Beyond the immediate physical damage it causes, exposure to violence can traumatize children, harm school performance, lead to depression and other illnesses, and increase the chances that young people will become the victims or perpetrators of violence in the future,” say the Know Violence in Childhood authors.
The UNICEF report cites an emerging body of research that shows the toxic effects of violence and other trauma on the developing brains of children in the first 1,000 days of their lives.
Violence not only threatens children’s physical safety but their cognitive and emotional development too. This is particularly disturbing given that data from 30 countries showed that nearly half of all one-to-two-year-olds were verbally abused or received corporal punishment.
Online violence is another emerging category of violence as more and more children around the world gain access to the Internet. Online bullying, harassment, sexual extortion and “grooming” for sex and child pornography are now the shadow side of increasing interconnectedness between children and their peers or with adult strangers, including those in far-flung parts of the globe.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/01/08/dark-side-social-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Dark Side Of Social Media</a>
Yet there is still a great deal of public ignorance about the many forms of violence that children experience. According to the UNICEF report, “Despite a growing awareness of the global nature of violence against children, the misconception that it is relatively rare persists. Media reporting typically focuses on extreme cases, such as death or rape. And while such tragedies, thankfully, are relatively uncommon, other acts of violence are not.” The authors also conclude that two out of three violent acts against children and adolescents are inter-personal rather than a result of broader conflict or civil unrest.
Although both reports make the point that violence happens across all economic strata, in rich and poor countries, low-income and high-income families, three regions in Africa nevertheless take the top three spots in tables compiled by Know Violence in Childhood for 2015: West and Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, and Middle East and North Africa. These regions have the highest combined totals for the following categories: corporal punishment; bullying and physical fights; physical and sexual violence against girls; and child homicide. Although Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest rate of child murder, the other forms of violence are far lower in these regions. Industrialized countries have the lowest rates of all these categories combined. Another statistic shows that sexual violence against girls is worst in Eastern and Southern Africa, followed by West and Central Africa and Middle East and North Africa.
So what steps do experts recommend for taking steps to end the many forms of violence against children? As UNICEF says, “It will take individual and collective action to right this global wrong.” Measures must be taken at state, community and inter-personal levels, say the experts. Outlawing violence is a first step. So far, only 60 of 193 UN member states prohibit corporal punishment in the home. In schools, corporal punishment is either partly or fully illegal in roughly 130 countries.
Other steps include addressing the socio-economic conditions that perpetuate the violence such as unemployment, poverty, substance abuse and the like. And hopefully the SDGs will help build public awareness and pressure countries to come on board with clear efforts to prevent it.
Raising awareness in communities and among parents and caregivers on the rights of children and on the toxic effects of violence against them, as well as helping them find different strategies to manage children’s behavior, are among the recommendations the Know Violence in Childhood report makes.
Tackling hierarchical school systems that allow corporal punishment and other violence such as bullying is another. UNICEF is partnering with school programs to help teachers use strategies that promote better behavior rather than resort to punishment. The organization, a partner in the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, has also developed a program called INSPIRE, which aims to spread awareness around programs that have been shown to work.
And, despite the downside of so many children being online, there is an upside too: technology can also protect children, with online awareness raising campaigns or mobile phone map applications, for example, that can help keep them safe.

Children At Risk From A Known Enemy

Preeti Kapoor moved to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1997 from Hamburg, Germany, and 10 years later, with her business partner, Sasha Aleksic, set up Scalini, a luxury boutique in the Mother City, after they had a challenge finding European designers locally.
Scalini brings luxury European clothing and footwear brands, such as Sergio Rossi, Fratelli Rossetti, Melissa Odabash and Eres swimwear and Penny Black by Maxmara, to South Africa.
For Kapoor, it has been a fascinating journey full of learning.
“Just learning the lifestyle here and what the women like has been interesting. In Hamburg, the women are a lot more dressed up and a lot more formal, whereas here, the women are more relaxed, easy and casual,” she says.
But every business, no matter how glamorous and successful, has its share of trials. Kapoor says her biggest challenge is sustainability.
“We’ve been in the business for almost 10 years and to sustain being in business for so long is challenging. Providing our customers with what they like has also been quite a challenge, good quality, good cost and good material, sustaining that has been a challenge, and we’re happy to be able to do it and still be in business despite all the tough times lately.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2017/06/15/powerhouse-changing-world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Priyanka Chopra: The Powerhouse Changing The World</a>
But the good parts, says the fashion entrepreneur, are the shopping trips to Germany, Milan, and others countries in Europe.
“It’s always a highlight because it’s always so inspiring to go to Europe. Seeing the fashion makes you feel so inspired, and you don’t want to give up. You always want to continue dressing women beautifully and elegantly.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/07/26/going-spice-route/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Going Down The Spice Route</a>
On what clothes mean to her: “You don’t always have to follow the trends, it’s all about what suits you and your body type.”
Scalini recently partnered with UNICEF for a fundraising gala in Johannesburg, where the store donated a clutch to the organization. Kapoor says she partnered with UNICEF because violence against girls is on the rise. She says no girl should ever have to go through abuse.
Her message for the victims? “Whatever happens in one’s life, we can get through it with the correct amount of help and support. Nothing is impossible.” – Written by Edith Ngcobo

Fashion For A Cause

A little more than a year ago, Aisha Ibrahim was over the moon as she took her marriage vows with her childhood sweetheart Abdulai, in the town of Baga, in Borno state, northeastern Nigeria. That happiness was short-lived though; she is now in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Kuchigoro, Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.
<blockquote>“It was just God that helped me. We had to flee for our lives. We went through Cameroon before we ended up here. I had no idea where my brothers and sisters were until we got here. I still have not seen my mother or my husband since that day,” says Ibrahim.</blockquote>
She is one of millions who have been displaced due to the violence unleashed by Islamic militant group Boko Haram on communities in Borno State, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).
This year alone, more than 1,500 have died in the Boko Haram conflict, according to Amnesty International. For Ibrahim, the most difficult part is the nightmares.
<blockquote>“I still remember everything like it was yesterday. So many people lost their lives when they attacked. I saw friends get shot; I pray I will see my husband again. We have to live here now because we have no homes to go back to,” she says.</blockquote>
The conflict is also difficult for those that take in the refugees.
“We had to provide an answer quickly for the thousands of people who all of a sudden appeared in Abuja. This was not something we prepared for, the government had to respond very quickly to accommodate all these people,” says Ishaya Chonoko, Zonal Co-ordinator at the Abuja office of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2016/12/01/good-news-little-progress/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Good News But Little Progress</a>
Life in the IDP camp is challenging. Ibrahim sells the food she receives through donations from a local church. Other women in the camp are not so lucky.
<blockquote>“Most of the girls here have to sleep with men in order to make ends meet. It is terrible but what can you do when everything has been taken away from you?” says Ibrahim.</blockquote>
The NEMA North East Zonal Office is responsible for feeding an estimated 1.6 million people in the resettlement camps across Borno. Combating malnutrition and a lack of food is a daily battle in these camps, says Chonoko.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2015/07/01/bloody-market-fear/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Bloody Market Of Fear</a>
At the IDP camp at the Saint Theresa’s Cathedral in Yola, the capital city of Adamawa state, Nigeria, about 1,500 people, mainly women and children, are cramped into a compound and living in a large hall which was previously a church building.
<blockquote>“Most of the men have died fighting to defend the communities. I lost two of my sons and my husband along with most of the other women here,” says Amina, one of the mothers at the camp.</blockquote>
She lives with her 10-year-old son who is extremely emaciated.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2015/03/01/people-hell-lurks-around-corner/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The People For Whom Hell Lurks Around The Corner</a>
In 2016, the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that 75,000 children would die if they did not receive aid in these camps. Another 400,000 children were at risk of severe acute malnutrition in the areas worst hit by Boko Haram.
“We decided to take control of feeding 100% of IDPs to buttress the efforts of both the government and other humanitarian agencies. There are several challenges in feeding over two million people, most of which relate to scarcity of resources and an efficient distribution system and attempts to solve the food crisis requires a group effort,” says Mallam Mohammed Kanar, the North-East Coordinator of NEMA.
When elected, President Muhammadu Buhari promised to crush Boko Haram. Years later, despite many military raids and isolated victories, the militant group is still terrorizing those in the North east of the Nigeria. To add insult to injury, last year, Nigeria’s air force killed at least 52 people and injured another 120 in an air strike on an IDP camp. It mistook the camp for a Boko Haram base.
Although the militant’s stronghold has been dislodged, the lingering chaos and damage of the past years are still felt in the North East.
Life in the camp is a harrowing experience. For now, Ibrahim and Amina can do nothing but hope it will end soon.
<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/2017/06/08/nigeria-boko-haram-attack-maiduguri-ahead-vps-visit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Boko Haram attack in Maiduguri ahead of VP’s visit</a>

Tag: Unicef

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

The Vaccine That Could Turn The Tide On Malaria In Africa, Where The Disease Is One Of The Biggest Killers

The United Nations At 75 Remains The World’s Moral Compass

Children At Risk From A Known Enemy

Fashion For A Cause

The Pain Of The Women And Children Who Have Lost Everything