CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

ATTACKS AGAINST AID WORKERS PERSIST

Some 188 incidents of insecurity against humanitarian workers were recorded between January and August 2019 compared with 277 in the same period last year. Despite the decrease, the level and severity of the incidents have worsened. Twenty-eight aid workers were wounded between January and August 2019 compared to 13 in 2018, according to the latest OCHA statistics. CAR remains one of the most dangerous contexts for humanitarian workers owing to years of armed violence that have also devastated millions of civilians and left them in dire need of relief assistance.

DR CONGO

ARMED RAIDERS TARGET CIVILIANS IN DJUGU

Armed assailants on 11 September attacked a makeshift displacement camp in a locality in Djugu area in the northeastern Ituri province, killing six people and wounding eight others. The attack was the latest in a series of armed raids in Djugu in the past six months. Nearly 200,000 of the 500,000 people displaced in the region live in makeshift settlements, surviving in abject conditions. UN Humanitarian Coordinator expressed worry over the latest attacks against civilians in Ituri as well as in parts of South Kivu province.

NIGER

FLOODS KILL 57, AFFECT 130,000 PEOPLE

Floods have killed 57 people, affected 130,000 others and damaged over 12,000 houses across the country, the Government reported on 10 September.
Agadez, Maradi and Zinder remain the most affected regions. In 2018, floods killed 45 people and affected 208,000 by the end of September.

MEASLES VACCINATION TARGETS OVER 4 MILLION

The Ministry of Health on 13 September launched a week-long measles vaccination campaign targeting around 4.3 million children across the country. The campaign, supported by UN and other aid organizations, is aimed at children aged 9 – 59 months in eight regions. Since the beginning of 2019, the country has registered 9,794 measles cases and 53 deaths. Maradi, Tahoua and Niamey are the most affected regions. Since 2004, Niger has organized five measles vaccination campaigns, improved surveillance and routine immunization. Despite a significant drop in cases from 63,913 cases in 2004 to 776 in 2016, outbreaks occur every year and measles remains a public health concern.

NIGERIA

22,000 MISSING IN CONFLICT-HIT NORTH-EAST

Around 22,000 Nigerians have been reported as missing to the ICRC during a decade of conflict in north-east Nigeria, the organization reported on 12 September, the highest number of missing persons registered with the ICRC in any country. Nearly 60 per cent were minors at the time they went missing, as families are often separated while fleeing attacks. Others have had loved ones abducted or detained and do not know their whereabouts. The ICRC said it is working with the Nigeria Red Cross and other Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in the region to trace missing people. So far, 367 cases have been solved since ICRC received its first cases in 2013.