Nigeria: Yobe State Weekly Situation Report No. 2 As of 04 June 2021 This report is compiled by OCHA Nigeria in collaboration with humanitarian partners. Calculation of IDPs does not include recent displacements from Geidam and Yunusari LGAs. Last week, SEMA estimated that about 54,000 IDPs from Geidam and Kanamma were still remaining in the places of displacement across 11 LGAs in Yobe while an estimated 126,000 individuals have returned either to Geidam and Kanamma towns or to rural areas within the two LGAs. HIGHLIGHTS • The security situation in Geidam and Yunusari Local Government Areas (LGAs) relatively improved this week following the return of security forces (SF) to Kanamma town and increased presence of SF in Geidam town. This has encouraged more returns of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes in the two towns. • Yobe State Ministry of Health has started to roll out the second round of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, targeting 26,029 health and frontline workers who were vaccinated in March and April 2021. • The police have reported the arrest of a civilian suspected to have contaminated water in nine shallow wells used by nomads and the local community in Kasseisa village, seven kilometers on the southern outskirts of Damaturu town. SITUATION OVERVIEW Over the course of this week there was an observed increase in the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from 11 LGAs in Yobe. The IDPs returned to their homes in Geidam and Kanamma towns following the return of the SF to their positions in Kanamma town and their enhanced presence in Geidam. The state government is monitoring the return process and has distributed in-kind food materials to the returned households. The returnees require lifesaving support as most lost their sources of livelihoods. The area is still inaccessible to humanitarian staff due to security concerns. Due to the unpredictable security environment, at least one humanitarian partner temporarily suspended the movement of its staff to program sites in remote areas of Gujba and Gulani LGAs. The military checkpoint to access the program site closed at irregular times, making it difficult for staff to spend planned amounts of time on the ground to deliver and monitor services. Nine water wells were allegedly poisoned on 3 June 2021 in Kassaisa village, some 7 kilometers on the south outskirts of Damaturu town. The Ministry of Water Resources, which leads the WASH sector, tested the water and is yet to confirm the nature of the contamination. The incident is an indication that communal suspicion between farmers and nomads may remain high. Last year, communal clashes resulted in the death and injury of civilians, destruction of crops and the displacement of farmers across eight LGAs in the state. Efforts are on-going by the state government to ensure that similar clashes do not repeat this year. The mission of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is to Coordinate the global emergency response to save lives and protect people in humanitarian crises. We advocate for effective and principled humanitarian action by all, for all. www.unocha.org Yobe State Situation Report No. 2 | 2 Preparedness Rains started in Yobe State this week and the State Rapid Response Team (RRT), led by the State Ministry of Health (SMoH), continued to mobilize stakeholders and partners to coordinate efforts to prevent the outbreak of water borne diseases during the rainy season. A meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday, 7 June 2021 to kick-start the preparedness process. The SMoH, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), conducted a state-level training for a seasonal malaria chemoprevention program that will be rolled out during the rainy season in July and August 2021. The program involves giving medicine to children to prevent or reduce the chance of being infected with malaria. Last week, some 13 staff from the SMoH and WHO attended the national-level malaria chemoprevention training in Gombe. After being piloted in 2019 the full-scale program started in 2020 across 17 LGAs where an average of 779,790 children aged 3-59 months received support. WHO is coordinating the program this year. Gaps The capacity of the WASH sector to coordinate urgently requires support. The sector, led by the State Ministry of Water Resources, lacks information management capacity. HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE Camp Coordination and Camp Management / Non-Food Items / Shelter Needs: • The start of the rains in Yobe State is raising grave concern over the shelter needs of displaced persons who have not received any support so far this year. Over 10,000 IDPs from Borno and rural parts of Yobe state who arrived over the past six months and living among host community and informal settlements within host community. • While there are no formal IDP camps in Yobe state, there are informal settlements hosting IDPs from Borno and rural areas in Yobe. All the settlements lack adequate shelter materials, which poses a high risk during the approaching rainy season. Early Recovery Needs: • The return of some IDPs back to their homes in Geidam and Kanamma calls on the need to restore basic social services and facilities that were damaged or destroyed during the conflict. There may also be need to support returnees to revive their livelihood sources, such as provision of farm inputs. Response: • The World Bank-funded Nigeria Multi-Sectoral Crisis Recovery Project (MCRP) launched a gender-based violence (GBV) service mapping process this week covering 12 LGAs. The assessment aims at documenting all institutions in the state which have a GBV desk, noting the services they provide and the nature of the GBV issues addressed. This will confirm coverage and identify gaps to inform referral pathways and required action. The assessment is being conducted in the MCRP participating States of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) States. Education Needs: • Most of the children from the estimated 30,000 households that were displaced from Geidam and Kanamma one month ago are out of school. The sector estimates that there may be more than 60,000 school-aged children among the IDPs across 11 LGAs hosting the IDPs. • The improving security situation in Geidam and Kanamma following the enhanced security forces presence provides hope that schools may reopen soon and some of the children may return to school. It is however, reported that some of the school teachers are reluctant to return at this time in fear that they may be targeted in the event of deterioration United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs www.unocha.org Yobe State Situation Report No. 2 | 3 in the security situation. During the attack on Geidam on 26 April 2021, two teachers were reportedly killed by the suspected insurgents. Response: • UNICEF has completed the first phase of a research on teacher management and teacher development in partnership with Cambridge University of the United States. The research aims to assess inclusion levels among children and teachers with special needs in schools. It is also designed to address the issue of insufficient number of qualified teachers in schools (the state’s teacher to student ratio is around 1:200). The research will inform solutions around demand and supply of teachers as well as teacher management and development. The first phase of the research focused schools and institutions at the LGA level and the second phase will focus on assessing the state level institutions such as the Ministry of Education, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the Teachers Service Board and the College of Education. Food Security Response: • Given the deteriorated food security situation as per the March 2021 Cadre Harmonise analysis, a multi sectoral scale- up plan led by the Food Security Sector was finalized. Advocacy to scale-up efforts to cover the significant gaps in food assistance (including access to energy) and agricultural livelihoods with government and non-government stakeholders continued through the week, particularly now that we are in the peak of the lean season.1 Health Needs: • Support is needed for intensive active case search to community level in security-compromised and high-burdened LGAs. • Stock-out of reagent in the molecular laboratory is interrupting COVID-19 testing. • There is disruption of primary healthcare (PHC) services in Yunusari and Geidam. Response: • The second round of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign has started and will continue for 40 days. The first round of the campaign was rolled out in March and April 2021 in which 23,965 health and frontline workers in Yobe state were vaccinated. • Yobe State Government, with support from WHO and the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, has stepped-up COVID- 19 sample collection and testing across the state. Last week 18 new confirmed cases were reported, bringing the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Yobe state to 478. The continued confirmation of new cases indicates ongoing community transmission. • The State Ministry of Health, with support from WHO, concluded training for 60 healthcare workers on COVID-19 home base care and infection prevention and control this week. Nutrition Needs: • The state government is advocating with partners to cover nutrition needs in an entire LGA rather than selecting a few nutrition facilities, as it is creating a capacity gap in many parts of the same LGAs where partners are operating. • There are currently eight stabilization centers and 320 Out-Patient Therapeutic (OPT) program centres across the state. Response: • Routine response activities continued during the week, including the targeted supplementary feeding program (TSFP), treatment in stabilization centres, and provision of nutrition supplies. 1 More operational details to follow next week. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs www.unocha.org Yobe State Situation Report No.