275,000 children reached by multi-sectoral interventions in Borno, says SCI

Save the Children (SCI), a humanitarian organisation, says over 350,000 people, including 275,000 children in Borno have benefited from the United States government’s $37.5 million intervention through the bureau for humanitarian assistance (BHA).

Duncan Harvey, SCI country director, spoke in Abuja on Wednesday at the BHA transition and sustainability planning workshop.

Harvey said the intervention programme is being implemented by SCI in partnership with the Family Health Initiative (FHI360), EYN, and Green Concern for Development (GREENCODE).

“SCI has been working in Borno state since 2014, and this project is the latest stage of the support we have been receiving from BHA, which is the US government,” he said.

“We have reached around 350,000 people, including around 275,000 children, who are the core of SCI’s activities.

“The project has been a multi-sectoral intervention with life-saving activities focusing on health and nutrition, education, and protection, and a large component has been a cash-in-voucher program to provide food assistance to those families.

“Malnutrition has been a big feature of the programme, by providing food assistance for the communities and children in particular.’’

Harvey said the big focus of the project has also been to address malnutrition in children under the age of five.

He added that a large number of children have been receiving emergency supplementary feeding through the health centres that are being supported under the programme in Borno state.

Also speaking, Andrew Simbwa, chief of the party for BHA, said the organisation has been working across 34 communities in Maiduguri, the Borno capital.

Simbwa said over 250,000 households benefitted from the monthly food assistance programme, adding that drugs and other facilities were provided at health facilities in the state.

He said the organisation provides 18 additional stabilisation beds for children suffering from malnutrition in the state capital.

He said more than 9000 households were empowered with cash grants of N100,000 to N200,000 to start up a business.

The BHA chief of the party added that the programme reached 31,875 households with food assistance through e-vouchers, while 17,308 children were directly reached with various child protection services and 246,902 children reached through nutrition.

Yakub Bakura, the district head of Ajiri, Mafa LGA in Borno, commended USAID-BHA and SCI for the interventions in his communities.

Bakura said his district is one of the most affected due to the insurgency, with a lot of vulnerable people.

“Since the Boko Haram insurgency, Save the Children has been one of the strong NGOs that has contributed enormously to our wellbeing,” he said.

“These are in the areas of livelihood support, building resilience, and early warning mechanisms to enhance community feed development, among others.

“In Mafa, we have three districts, and SCI has worked incredibly hard in two of the most affected districts, Zannari Kaleri community and Malakyarir, as well as in Muna, IDP camps where most of my communities are displaced.”