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Cameroon + 6 more

West and Central Africa: Weekly Regional Humanitarian Snapshot (30 October - 5 November 2018)

Attachments

CAMEROON

DOZENS OF CHILDREN ABDUCTED FROM SCHOOL

Eighty-two people, including 79 children, were abducted on 5 November from a school in Bamenda, the capital of North-West region, according to media reports. No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction. Education has been badly affected in the NorthWest and South-West regions where an uprising began in late 2016. Armed groups fighting for the secession of the two regions have banned education and threatened those who defy the ban. Many schools have been closed and tens of thousands of children deprived of learning or forced to relocate to other regions to attend school.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

ATTACK INFLICTS MORE MISERY ON IDPs

More than 27,000 displaced people have been left in deeper misery after attackers raided their settlement in Batangafo town in the north of the country on 31 October and set it on fire. The assailants opened fire as they destroyed and burnt houses, market stands, children’s learning sheds and latrines. UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Najat Rochdi, visited Batangafo on 4 November and condemned the attack. Hundreds of civilians were also displaced in the central Bambari town after violent attacks.

DR CONGO

OVER 80,000 RETURNEE CHILDREN NEED URGENT HELP

More than 80,000 children among Congolese recently expelled from Angola need urgent relief assistance, UNICEF reported on 31 October. The children need food and water and are at a higher risk of being affected by insecurity and violence. More than 300,000 Congolese have returned from Angola since 1 October and mostly settled in communities in the conflict-hit Kasai province. The influx is raising concerns of a new humanitarian emergency in a country where millions of civilians are already grappling with the effects of conflict, diseases and poor access to basic services.

MALI

SEVERE ACUTE MALNUTRITION PERSISTS

Severe malnutrition remains high across Mali. This year’s national survey found that 2.6 per cent of children are severely malnourished, the same as 2017. Conflict-affected northern Mali has some of the country’s highest rates, with Gao recording 3.1 per cent, Taouadenit, 2.8 per cent and Segou 2.3 per cent. Since the beginning of the year, humanitarian actors have assisted more than 93,000 severely acutely malnourished children out of a caseload of 274,000.

NIGER

SIX POLIO CASES REPORTED,
VACCINATION UNDERWAY

Six vaccine-derived polio cases were detected in Niger between June and September, underscoring the risk of re-emergence of the virus even in countries where it has been eradicated, WHO reported on 30 October. The virus was diagnosed in children in Zinder region near the border with Nigeria, where a polio outbreak is ongoing. Two vaccination rounds, one of which has been carried out, aim to immunize 3.2 million children younger than five years.

NIGERIA

ATTACKERS RAID IDP CAMP,
DISPLACE HUNDREDS

Armed attackers on 31 October raided a camp for the displaced outside Borno state capital Maiduguri and four surrounding villages. They killed at least eight people, injured dozens, kidnapped women and burned and looted homes. Hundreds have been displaced after the attack. The camp next to Dalori village hosts 12,600 people who have fled the violence in north-east Nigeria. UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Edward Kallon, condemned the attack and urged the Government to step up civilian protection. In January 2016, armed raiders attacked Dalori village and killed more than 100 people and burned most of the village down.

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