‘330,000 IDPs face epidemic in North-East’

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‘330,000 IDPs face epidemic in North-East’

Vangard, 27 May 2016

URL: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/330000-idps-face-epidemic-north-east/
By Gabriel Ewepu ABUJA—AN international organisation, OXFAM, yesterday, said over 330, 000 Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, were in danger of epidemic in the North-East region of the country, because of lack of portable water and poor and sanitation.
In an assessment report titled “Livelihoods and Economic Recovery Assessment 2016”, presented by Humanitarian Manager, OXFAM Nigeria, Olayinka Fagbemi, the body called on the government and development partners to move fast and save the situation. The assessment report by OXFAM was done on behalf of the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP. The report covered four states of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe. Fagbemi said: “The objective of the assessment was to gain systematic and representative information of the economic situation of the local population, of returnees and IDPs settled with host communities and to present a comparative analysis between the affected populations in Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe States. In these states 330,000 households were covered with eight supervisors, three focal persons and 28 enumerators on the field.” ”It is important for non-governmental organisations to take into consideration about the diversity of needs of IDPs in the states affected by Boko Haram insurgency and carry out detailed assessment when they go for support of the affected people.” “Water and sanitation are critical for reconstruction in the states because these factors affect the IDPs, and also there could be disease outbreak in these IDPs camps. Prevalence of excreta in the immediate environment is usually a result of open defecation, which most often indicates unavailability/inadequacy of sanitation facilities or hygiene habits of the population. 55 percent of households do not have these facilities. “The majority of households in the assessed LGAs are in dire need of improved sources of drinking water. Individuals with high chronic illnesses, such as asthma, diabetes, cancer, liver cirrhosis, HIV, tuberculosis, were present in 23 percent of the households assessed. In general, Nafada with 49 percent has the highest case of open defecation by children followed by Potiskum with 31 percent, and Fika 30 percent, while Konduga six percent and Maiha 21 percent have the lowest.” According to him key findings in the assessment shows that 61 percent of households are without water, while 55 percent of households do not have access to sanitation devices.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/330000-idps-face-epidemic-north-east/