The United Nations has raised the alarm over a $159 million funding shortfall in Nigeria’s 2026 humanitarian response, warning that millions of people facing food insecurity, malnutrition and disease outbreaks could lose access to lifesaving assistance.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Fall, issued the warning on Wednesday in Maiduguri during activities marking World Humanitarian Day, as he called for urgent additional funding from international donors, the Federal Government, private-sector organisations and other stakeholders.
Fall said Nigeria’s Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan remained severely underfunded despite escalating humanitarian needs, leaving hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people at risk of losing critical support in the remaining months of the year.
“Needs continue to rise faster than available resources,” Fall said, noting that current funding represented only a fraction of the resources available to humanitarian operations in previous years.
The warning followed a visit by Fall and members of the UN and Humanitarian Country Teams to nutrition and cholera treatment centres in Maiduguri, where they interacted with health workers, humanitarian personnel, caregivers and patients.
The delegation witnessed the humanitarian response to the crisis in northeastern Nigeria, which reached almost 900,000 people during the first half of 2026 despite declining financial support.
According to the UN, $135.5 million has so far been mobilised in 2026 through the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund and the Central Emergency Response Fund to address emergencies across the country.
However, Fall stressed that additional contributions were urgently needed to bridge the funding gap and sustain lifesaving interventions, particularly during the lean and rainy seasons when humanitarian vulnerabilities typically intensify.
He highlighted Borno State’s ongoing response to a cholera outbreak, commending government authorities, health workers and humanitarian organisations for their coordinated efforts to contain the disease.
Fall disclosed that more than 55,000 cholera patients had been treated, while hygiene-promotion activities had reached more than one million people.
Humanitarian partners and government authorities have also chlorinated more than 500 water points to improve access to safe drinking water and limit further transmission.
He said the combined interventions had helped reduce the cholera case fatality rate to below emergency levels, but warned that sustained support remained critical to prevent further deaths.
Beyond the funding crisis, the UN used World Humanitarian Day to call for stronger protection of humanitarian workers operating in Nigeria and other conflict-affected areas.
Fall commended thousands of humanitarian personnel working across the country, particularly those providing assistance in difficult and high-risk environments.
He warned that attacks on or restrictions against humanitarian workers could have direct consequences for vulnerable populations by preventing assistance from reaching communities in need.
“Humanitarian workers are not targets. Hospitals, treatment centres, relief supplies, assistance convoys and civilian infrastructure must be protected,” he said, urging all parties to respect international humanitarian law.
Fall stressed that safe and unhindered humanitarian access was both a moral imperative and a legal obligation.
“When humanitarian workers cannot safely reach communities with assistance, it is vulnerable women, men and children who suffer the consequences,” he said.
The UN coordinator also highlighted Nigeria’s planned transition towards a more nationally led humanitarian system, describing it as an opportunity to strengthen national ownership and reduce dependence on international humanitarian operations.
He called for increased investment in Nigerian institutions and local organisations already delivering assistance on the front lines, alongside stronger domestic resource mobilisation to cushion the impact of declining international donor support.
“Nigeria’s evolution towards a nationally led humanitarian system is both necessary and an enormous opportunity for the country to do things differently,” Fall said.
He, however, cautioned that the transition must be adequately funded and carefully managed, with the needs of affected communities remaining at the centre of the process.
Fall urged governments, donors, civil society organisations and the private sector to scale up their support, stressing that behind the humanitarian figures were families struggling to survive, children battling malnutrition and communities still recovering from years of conflict and displacement.
The UN appeal comes as Nigeria enters another challenging humanitarian period, with food insecurity, disease outbreaks, displacement and seasonal vulnerabilities placing additional pressure on already stretched response systems.
Fall said sustained funding would be essential to enable humanitarian organisations to continue providing critical assistance to vulnerable Nigerians throughout the remainder of 2026 and support the country’s transition towards a more locally led humanitarian response in 2027.
