Ciclo #ÁfricaEsNoticia | Conferencia 3: La crisis humanitaria del norte de Nigeria: los estragos de Boko Haram

This is the third conference of the four online seminars* which Casa África is organising on different topics related to western Africa and Sahel, led by experts and some of  the involved parties.

The objective of these meetings is twofold:

1. to increase understanding in Spain of various aspects related to security in the region, which is of prime concern for our country,
2. to generate a space which will provide a voice for both Spanish and African experts, and as a result, generate contact networks and mutual understanding.

Since 2009, the conflict between non state armed groups and the Nigerian army has steadily worsened, and the data reflect this situation: after more than ten years, according to the United Nations Organisation (UNO), there are more than two million internal displaced persons; about eight million depend entirely on humanitarian aid to survive; more than 200,000 Nigerian asylum seekers live in other countries; and the most chilling figure of all; it is calculated that there are more than 22,000 missing persons. All this without counting the thousands of civilians in territories controlled by armed groups, where humanitarian aid cannot reach.

According to Amnesty International, the vast majority of these displaced persons are in the States of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, all three in the north of the country. UNO estimates that 5.2 million people in the north-east need food supplies urgently, including 450,000 boys and girls under five years old. To this we should add the grave consequences this has had on education. According to UNICEF, some 10.5 million children in the country between the ages of 5 and 14 do not go to school, despite the fact that education is compulsory and free, generating yet further uncertainty for the future.

For all these reasons and more, this third conference will deal with the humanitarian crisis in the north of Nigeria, placing special emphasis on the havoc created by Boko Haram, and those participating will be:

• Murtala Abdullahi, analyst and reporter from Humangle
• Idayat Hassan, director of the Centre for Democracy and Development in Nigeria
• Pablo Yuste, director of the UNHRD Logistics Centre in Las Palmas (World Food Programme)
• Siham Hajjaj, co-ordinator of projects for Médicos Sin Fronteras
• Marcelino Cabanas Ansorena, Ambassador of Spain in Nigeria

We will be able to listen to this talk by the experts on Thursday 20^th May, 2021 from 6 p.m. (Madrid time) via the Casa África social network: Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

*This activity has received a grant from the Ministry of Defence.