The United Nations Children’s Fund, on Friday provided humanitarian support to about 7,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State currently taking refuge in Kashere community of Gombe State.
Speaking during the distribution of relief materials at the camp, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, Dr Nuzhat Rafique, said the agency was working with the Gombe State Government and other partners to support displaced families with healthcare, sanitation and education services.
Rafique explained that the displaced persons, who fled their communities in Bauchi State, were being accommodated in Kashere where both the Gombe and Bauchi state governments have been providing support.
“Today we are here with the Gombe State Primary Health Care Development Agency to assess the arrangements in the camp. These people were displaced from Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State and are now taking refuge here in Gombe,” she said.
She commended the Gombe State Government for its response to the humanitarian situation.
“I am grateful to the Government of Gombe State, His Excellency the Governor, and all the relevant departments including the Ministry of Health, Primary Health Care, and Ministry of Education who have been working from the first day to support the camp,” Rafique added.
According to her, more than 7,000 displaced persons are currently living in the camp and are receiving support from both state governments and humanitarian organisations.
“There are now more than 7,000 people in this camp and they are being fully supported by the Gombe State Government and Bauchi State Government as well. The Executive Governor of Bauchi State also visited the camp and made interventions for the displaced persons,” she said.
Rafique disclosed that UNICEF had distributed about 600 hygiene and dignity kits as well as 56 household cholera kits to help address sanitation challenges in the camp.
“Today we distributed hygiene and dignity kits because the sanitation situation here is very poor and we must improve it to prevent outbreaks of cholera and other diseases,” she explained.
She also revealed that many children in the camp had never been vaccinated before arriving at the facility.
“There are many zero-dose children who have never received any form of vaccination, and we are ensuring they are now covered through immunisation programmes,” she said.
Rafique further noted that UNICEF plans to establish safe learning spaces to help displaced children continue their education while in the camp.
“There are many children who have never been to school, so we are planning to establish safe learning spaces so they can begin learning here and continue when they eventually return to their communities,” she added.
Executive Secretary of the Gombe State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Shuaibu Abdulrahman, said the state government had activated an incident management system to coordinate activities at the camp.
He explained that the committee includes the Ministries of Health, Environment, Water Resources, Special Duties and other partners.
“The government has set up an incident management system which is a multi-sectoral committee involving the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Special Duties and other partners to manage and coordinate activities in the camp,” Abdulrahman said.
He disclosed that the government had made healthcare services available to displaced persons through a nearby primary healthcare centre.
“One of the key needs in the camp is health services. Just across the road, we have a primary healthcare centre and the state government has provided drugs for the IDPs to access free healthcare,” he said.
According to him, health officials have commenced vaccination campaigns in the camp due to the presence of many unvaccinated children.
“We have many zero-dose children, meaning they have never received any form of vaccine. We have started reactive vaccination and routine immunisation for children under five,” Abdulrahman said.
He revealed that outreach teams visit the camp three times weekly to vaccinate children and monitor disease outbreaks.
“As of yesterday, about 300 children had received routine immunisation while 33 zero-dose children were vaccinated,” he added.
Abdulrahman further said girls aged nine had also received the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, while some malnutrition cases had been identified among children.
He explained that the Gombe State Government had approved N500 million counterpart funding for the procurement of ready-to-use therapeutic foods for malnourished children.
“Those commodities are not yet in the state but we are expecting them within the next one or two weeks. In the meantime, UNICEF is providing support to help cater for affected children,” he said.
The Camp Secretary of the IDPs in Kashere, Dr Bala Babangida, expressed appreciation to UNICEF and other partners for their support.
“Currently we have received 600 WASH and dignity kits from UNICEF as well as 56 cholera kits which will help address sanitation and health issues in the camp,” he said.
Babangida said the interventions had significantly reduced cases of open defecation within the camp.
“Some days ago, if you stayed here for just a few minutes you would notice the bad odour because of open defecation, but the situation has improved significantly with the support we are receiving,” he explained.
He added that volunteers within the camp had been mobilised to maintain sanitation facilities.
“There are volunteers among the displaced persons who are responsible for cleaning the toilets and ensuring that the sanitation facilities are properly maintained,” he said.
Babangida noted that although the camp population had grown rapidly, authorities were managing the situation with available facilities.
“The camp is currently overcrowded but we are managing with the facilities we have. People are using classrooms, verandas and other available spaces for shelter,” he said.
He identified healthcare support for malnourished children as one of the remaining urgent needs in the camp.
“We have some children suffering from malnutrition and we still need specialised food to support them,” Babangida added.
