Nigeria Humanitarian Needs Overview 2023 (February 2023)

Scope of Analysis

There are significant and severe humanitarian needs across Nigeria, caused by poverty – further deepened by high rates of inflation – lack of access to basic services, weak rule of law, widespread insecurity and criminality, and the impact of climate change.
The nature and impact of some of these risks are described in detail later in the document.
In 2022, needs across Nigeria were further impacted by flooding, food insecurity and malnutrition, as well as refugee returnees from Cameroon and Niger. Some of these needs have been addressed in collaboration with the Government, through separate response plans (such as for malnutrition in the north-west) and working with the Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and state-level governments to address the flood disaster in the second half of 2022. Many of these issues cannot be resolved by humanitarian interventions alone. They necessitate a concerted and combined humanitarian and development effort, led by the Government. Section 1.6 presents an analysis of needs across Nigeria, with a particular emphasis on the north-west (section 1.7), assessed through a separate multi-sector needs assessment process.
Limitations in international humanitarian funding necessitate a well prioritized response within the capacity, reach and resources available, and with continued focus on the north-east. Stakeholders engaged in the 2023 humanitarian programme cycle (HPC) continue to focus on the BAY states, which are the most affected by the conflict in Nigeria’s north-east.
Four population groups are identified as in need of humanitarian and protection assistance across the BAY states: (i) internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps or camp-like-settings; (ii) out-of-camp IDPs living in host communities; (iii) returnees; and (iv) host communities. The latter also comprises communities affected by conflict that may not necessarily host IDPs or returnees.
For 2023, five themes were endorsed as the key drivers of the humanitarian crisis: conflict and displacement, food insecurity and malnutrition, disease outbreaks (including cholera), floods, and camp closures and involuntary relocations and resettlement.
The secondary data review undertaken in mid-2022 provided critical preliminary analysis helping to scope the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO), and specifically informed the Multi Sector Needs Assessment (MSNA) for 2023 with key background on population groups, vulnerable populations and humanitarian access in the BAY states. The data collection for the MSNA for 2023 took place in August 2022. Together with complementary surveys and assessments, some 17,000 households (estimated at more than 85,000 individuals) were reached across 65 local government areas (LGAs) in the three states.
Data analysis of the MSNA for 2023 (applying the JIAF), in addition to complementary surveys, generated both an intersectoral severity rating for each LGA in the BAY states and a rating for each of the three concerned groups (IDPs, returnees, host communities) in each LGA. The survey data also yielded sectorspecific severity ratings for each LGA and target group therein. A risk analysis was factored into each LGA’s rating.
Additional emphasis was placed on three aspects of the analysis for the 2023 HNO and Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP):

1. Better prioritization and targeting to ensure that the needs of those most in need would be given precedence for assistance and the impact of scarce resources maximized.

2. Improved analysis based on gender, age and disability to better understand vulnerabilities generated by the conflict, as well as affected people’s ability to access assistance.

3. Through the risk analysis, improved understanding of vulnerabilities stemming from predictable humanitarian events – e.g., the rainy season and the lean season – with a view to identifying interventions that can reduce vulnerability – i.e., anticipatory action.