By the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria
The 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Nigeria (HNRP) is a much shorter document than in previous years. It presents a more succinct narrative and analysis leading up to the outlined response, without compromising the process that generated the evidence including the prioritization and targeting that underpins the Plan.
The 2025 HNRP planning process has seen even more extensive consultations with affected people, the Government, diverse stakeholders and humanitarian and development partners. Additional data, analysis and other elements of the needs overview covering Nigeria, and the response plan covering Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states can be found as part of the online document.
Across Nigeria, humanitarian needs are escalating, driven by the intersection of conflict and insecurity with economic hardship and the impact of climate change. Nigeria has one of the highest levels of food insecurity and malnutrition globally. In many states, access to basic services such as health care and education remains inadequate. Poverty continues to plague more than half of Nigeria’s population. Increasing conflict over resources, on top of the impact of climate change, continues to displace and affect already vulnerable people.
The conflict in north-east Nigeria continues 15 years on, causing death and destruction and fuelling food insecurity. The UN Secretary-General’s annual report on the protection of civilians estimated that more than 4,000 civilians were killed in the north-east in 2023. By November 2024, some 411 people had been killed by landmines and unexploded ordinance, the sixth highest toll globally. Worryingly, also in 2024, the BAY states experienced two large-scale suicide bombings for the first time since 2017. Of equal concern is the alarming increase in food insecurity in the BAY states – expected to affect 5.1 million people during the lean season in 2025 – as well as increasing levels of malnutrition. This is approaching levels not seen since 2017.
Similarly, food insecurity is increasing across Nigeria and is projected to affect more than 33 million people during the lean season in 2025. This represents a 32.2 per cent increase compared to the October-December 2024 period. At the same time, millions of children under five are at risk of death, with an estimated 2.5 million children projected to be severely acutely malnourished in 2025. Conflict between farmers and herders and violence committed by armed criminal groups has displaced some 2.1 million people.
Climate change is having a profound impact on Nigeria. In 2024, more than 3 million people were impacted by floods that killed 1000 people and displaced around 2 million people. The challenges caused by climate change, including riverine and coastal flooding, as well as periodic droughts, are expected to increase in the coming years, impacting vulnerable people with limited coping mechanisms. In September 2024, Maiduguri in Borno State faced the worst flash floods in more than 30 years when the Alau Dam collapsed, affecting half a million people, and displacing more than 400,000 people.
As highlighted, there are significant and severe humanitarian needs outside the BAY states. However, the nature and scale of needs across Nigeria means that the Humanitarian Country Team, cognisant of the limited resources available and capacity constraints, must ensure that humanitarian resources are put to the best possible use. This means adopting a differentiated approach to address the underlying causes of vulnerability where this is caused by poverty and a lack of development through combined humanitarian, development and peacebuilding action.
Recognizing that the approach that has been pursued to deal with the humanitarian crisis in the BAY states is a poor fit elsewhere in the country, the approach outside the BAY states must focus on a coordinated response with development actors to reduce vulnerability. It is envisaged that this response will be led by Government, leveraging Government leadership, coordination and resources to ensure the sustainability of such efforts. A new model for coordination and response is being developed to this end.
The need for innovation and improved efficiency of the humanitarian operation is not only driven by a drastic reduction in funding for humanitarian action globally, but also the need to transition to a more appropriate model of providing humanitarian assistance. Last year, we said that it cannot be business as usual. We must prioritize the most critical life-saving activities while also empowering affected people and local partners to improve the efficiency and impact of aid delivery.
The HNRP Strategy for 2024-2025 is a step in the right direction towards reforming the humanitarian response to achieve greater efficiency. It underscores the need to improve the way we work by innovating and making scarce resources go further.
The first element of reform is reducing transaction costs. This can be achieved by directly funding those who deliver assistance and promoting locally led humanitarian action. Additionally, shifting to cash and voucher assistance where possible provides those affected with more dignified choices. Exploring other means of improving efficiency, such as establishing common pipelines, is also crucial.
A second element of reform is working more closely with development partners and Government, as highlighted, to reduce vulnerability. This also includes strengthening disaster risk reduction efforts to mitigate frequent flooding and the impact of climate change on rain-fed agriculture – the staple livelihood in northern Nigeria.
A third element of reform is moving from a reactive to a proactive response, through anticipatory action to humanitarian events. Five per cent of the programmed resources in the 2025 HNRP are intended to address cyclical events such as floods. This will not only reduce the potential human suffering, but also save scarce resources. We will work closely with the Government in rolling this out.
The fourth element of reform is to find new and innovative ways of mobilizing resources for humanitarian response. This needs to look beyond traditional ways of resourcing and running humanitarian operations. In Nigeria, there are great opportunities to leverage Government leadership and resources.
Nigeria is facing large-scale humanitarian crises affecting millions of people. I am, however, confident that we are already making strides towards addressing the plight of those affected by conflict and disaster.
That said, much more needs to be done. We need to recognize that humanitarian action only provides a palliative. It does not provide solutions. That can only come if combined with development and peacebuilding efforts.
More than anything, we need to challenge our thinking on the nature and role of humanitarian assistance. In the words of Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, we need “to find new allies, partnerships, and ways of working; to surge work to put the voices and agency of those we serve at the heart of the effort; and to be ruthless in finding efficiency and innovation”.
This is the challenge we must face, changing how we work, becoming more accountable, becoming more transparent and ensuring that we put resources to the best possible use.
I thank all our partners, in particular local and civil society organizations on the front lines for the incredible work that you are doing to address the plight of vulnerable Nigerians. Let us take the next step to transform the humanitarian operation in the BAY states and chart a course for how, together with the Government, we can help vulnerable Nigerians elsewhere in the country. Your courage, ingenuity and commitment make me confident that we can make a profound difference for millions of Nigerians in 2025.
A key pillar for humanitarian action in Nigeria is the support of our donors and I want to recognize their continued commitment to address humanitarian challenges. Your support in driving change and innovation in the humanitarian operation will be critical.
Mohamed Malick Fall
United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria