The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that it built toilet facilities and 240,000-litre capacity solar boreholes to stop the cholera outbreak at Ggass IDP Camp in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State.
UNICEF’s WASH Specialist in Borno, Mr Lonis Salihu, disclosed during a one-day visit to the Ggass IDP camp in Mafa town on Thursday.
The Ggass IDP camp has a population of 33,140 individuals and 6,643 households and has been a cholera outbreak epicentre since its establishment in 2016.
He noted that in 2022, there were 216 reported cases of cholera, with 2 deaths.
According to him, children in Ggass IDP camp have, over the years, borne the brunt of the lack of adequate water facilities, with cholera outbreaks and high cases of malnutrition and truancy in school.
He explained that UNICEF, with support from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund and European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), rehabilitated three boreholes with 14 tap heads each. Each borehole has a capacity of 60,000 litres per day.
“Before we came here, these facilities were not working, but with the technical support from GoalPrime, we were able to reactivate these boreholes and install the solar system to pump water”.
“UNICEF and GoalPrime Organisation, with funding from CERF and ECHO, have also engaged some displaced persons at the camp as hygiene promoters”.
“They go from house to house to sensitise households on the importance of personal and environmental hygiene in relation to child health and survival”.
“UNICEF’s Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) interventions in northeast Nigeria have been delivering lifesaving assistance to address the immediate needs of vulnerable populations, most especially women and children”.
“The RM operates usually for three to four months to address the WASH and nutrition needs of the most underserved populations in northeast Nigeria”.
“UNICEF and its partner, GoalPrime Organisation, are supporting the GGASS IDP Camp and other locations in Mafa LGA, which include the Ngaranmam IDP Camp, the Ajiri community, and Kallari Dapcherima, among many other underserved locations.
Also speaking, the Nutrition Officer in charge of nutrition assessment and surveillance in Maiduguri, Nura Shehu, said that, in Mafa LGA, over 14,000 children are estimated to be acutely malnourished.
“So far, in this IDP camp, in the last month, we have admitted over 300 children who are severely acutely malnourished”.
He further explained that UNICEF, with support from its partners, is trying to make sure all the children who are acutely malnourished and women of childbearing age are getting the required assistance to address the cases of malnutrition in Mafa LGA.
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