Floods in West and Central Africa have displaced over 740,000 people and claimed the lives of more than 1,000, affecting over 5 million people in 16 countries, the United Nations reported on Thursday.
Heavy rainfall has caused severe flooding across most parts of the central and west African region as well as the Sahel. Chad, Niger, and Nigeria have been the hardest hit, accounting for over 80% of the total affected population, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Hundreds of thousands of homes, schools, and health care facilities have been damaged, while half a million acres of farmland have been destroyed, threatening food security and increasing malnutrition, particularly in Chad and Niger. The precarious living conditions are also raising the risk of waterborne diseases, such as cholera, spreading in Niger and Nigeria.
Joyce Msuya, assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, has allocated $35 million to support the response in Chad, Niger, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Congo. However, additional funds are urgently needed, the UN stressed.
In Nigeria alone, Msuya allocated $5 million to assist 280,000 people with food, clean water, and shelter, as well as efforts to prevent cholera outbreaks.
The $927 million Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria is only 46% funded, officials noted.