… As 19M Children Internally Displaced By Conflict, Violence In North-East

 TOYIN ADEBAYO, ABUJA

UNICEF has warned that internally displaced children (including in Nigeria) are among the world’s most vulnerable to the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic raveging the world.

The report reads in bit: “In north-east Nigeria, there are currently 1.9 million people displaced from their homes. Sixty percent of them are children, with 1 in 4 under the age of five.

“Globally, an estimated 19 million children – more than ever before, according to UNICEF – were living in displacement within their own countries due to conflict and violence in 2019 – some of them for years.

” ‘Lost at Home’, looks at the risks and challenges internally displaced children face, and the urgent actions needed to protect them. As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, these children are among the most vulnerable to its direct and indirect impacts.

The warning came as the organization released a report looking at the risks and challenges facing internally displaced children, and the urgent actions needed to protect them.

Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria said, “Hundreds of thousands of children in north-east Nigeria are living in the shadow of conflict and now in the increasingly challenging shadow of a global pandemic and it’s potential socio-economic aftermath”.

He added that, “When a new crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic emerges, displaced children are especially vulnerable and the gaps in our ability to keep them safe are even more stark. We must urgently work together – all of us, government and humanitarian partners – to keep them safe, healthy, learning and protected.”

The COVID-19 pandemic is making a critical situation for displaced children and families around the world even worse. They often live in overcrowded camps or informal settlements, where access to basic hygiene and health services is limited, and where physical distancing is not possible. This is true in Nigeria’s north-east, where conditions pose a particular challenge to containing the possible spread of diseases like COVID-19.

Internally displaced children around the world often lack access to basic services and are at risk of exposure to violence, exploitation, abuse and trafficking, according to the UNICEF report. They are also at risk of child labour, child marriage and family separation, which all pose direct threats to their health and safety.

According to the report, there were 12 million new displacements of children in 2019 – 3.8 million of them were caused by conflict and violence, and 8.2 million by disasters linked mostly to weather-related events like flooding and storms.

UNICEF and partners are currently working to protect displaced children in north-east Nigeria through critical health and nutrition services, providing access to life-saving WASH services through accelerated construction of facilities, and adapted solutions to continuing education – including the provision of radios for distance learning while schools are closed.

“What we really need now are strategic investments and a united effort from government, civil society, private sector, humanitarian actors and children themselves to find solutions that can protect children from the affects of displacement – especially as we face the COVID-19 pandemic – and also address and help mitigate the longer term impacts this can have on children’s health and education,” said Peter Hawkins.

TOYIN ADEBAYO, ABUJA

The 2018 National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) has revealed that only thirty-one percent of Nigerian children are currently immunized.

This implies that, we still need to bridge the 69% gap on unimmunized children.

Speaking at a two day Media Dialogue on Data-Driven Reporting and Dissemination of the National Demographic Health Survey, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Planning and Research Specialist, Mrs Maureen Zubie-Okolo, said the decline in figure is as a result of hard-to-reach areas caused by insurgency.

According to her, Immunization coverage is one of the indicators used to monitor progress towards reductions in child morbidity and mortality, as it is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions.

Inspite of the decline, Nigeria has recorded some progress in infant and child mortality across the country, she added.

Speaking on the trends in vaccination, Zubie-Okolo said vaccination coverage in Nigeria has Improved over the past 10 years; the percentage of children age 12-23 months who received all basic vaccinations increased from 23% in 2008 to 31% in 2018.

Again, the percentage of children who received none of the basic vaccinations declined from 29% to 19% during the same period.

She however noted that, while these trends show improvement, they still fall short of Sustainable Development Goals 3, for which the target is achieving more than 90% coverage of all basic vaccinations among children age 12-23 months.

According to her, “The progressive decline in child mortality could be attributed to better health advocacy and good governance.

“Most women due to lack of education, do not readily know what to do to keep their children healthy and alive.

“The National Demographic Health Survey 2018 shows a great improvement in child health indices. ” She further explained.

TOYIN ADEBAYO , ABUJA 

The National Advocates for Health (NAH) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to prioritise health as a political agenda and sustain its funding in the midst of Coronavirus pandemic and crashed global oil price.

The evidence of its adverse impact on the Health sector, banking sector, economy, the social distancing and lock down of regions are strong justifications for the Government of Nigeria to see that health should be prioritized, the group stated.

 The group in a press statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja , signed by the Chairman, National Advocates for Health (HA4H), Prof. Oladapo Oladipocommended the effort of the federal government and all its agencies in speedy response to the Coronavirus pandemic through intensifying screening, surveillance at the borders, setting up isolation centres for quarantine, release of emergency funds and establishing of the presidential task-force on Coronavirus control. 

 They however hinted that, despite the above effort of Federal Government, we note the non-compliance with Abuja declaration of Allocation of 15% of National revenue to the Health sector, gross under-funding of the health sector which is responsible for our dysfunctional health care system, medical tourism and human capital flight to greener pastures resulting in inequitable distribution of Health manpower and unacceptable preventable mortality and morbidity. Currently, also, governments at national and sub-national levels are worsening the inequality by under-funding public services such as Education, Health, Water and Environmental Sanitation.

 The group chaired by Prof Oladapo Ladipo has observed the following: “The Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) of N44.50 billion is captured in the Part C of the 2020 approved budget ‘Statutory Transfers’ as against in 2019 that was captured as part of service wide vote. This is good news as it will be more protected when there is budget paucity;  About N46 Billion is allocated and approved for the Health Capital Budget with bulk of it committed to Immunization (about N32 billion. This is a testimony we have priorities  the health and wellbeing of our children; and  N1.5 billion for Expanded Midwives Service Scheme, N729 Million for Cancer Funds and N1.2 Billion for Family Planning Procurement which is an international commitment to FP2020”.

 The statement continued: “While the aforementioned allocations are already appropriated in the 2020 approved budget, we are aware that implementation of the overall 2020 budget may suffer cuts and delay in disbursement as Coronavirus continues to impact on the global oil market which Nigerian government substantially relies on to finance its budget. 

 “When revenue falls, we are aware that section 28 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act has empower the Minister of Finance on budgetary matters as follows “Where, by the end of three months, after the enactment of the Appropriation Act, the Minister determines that the targeted revenues may be insufficient to fund the heads of expenditure in the Appropriation Act, the Minister shall, within the next 30 days of such determination, take appropriate measures to restrict further commitments and financial operations according to the criteria set-in the Fiscal Risk Appendix ——- such provisions shall not apply to Statutory or constitutional expenditure.”

 “Despite having such powers by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, as a matter of urgency, we call on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Finance Mrs Zainab Ahmed to prioritise health as a political agenda and ensure all its funding are released on time and in full. Mr. President should also ensure an effective implementation of the National Action Plan for Health Security (2018-2022). As the saying goes, health is wealth and Nigeria’s ability to respond to the Coronavirus pandemic and economic crises relies on its healthy population and healthy workforce”, the statement further stated.