Recent heavy rains and floods across West Africa have forced nearly 950,000 people [1], many of them children, from their homes across Mali, Nigeria and Niger, Save the Children said.

The hundreds of thousands of children now displaced from their homes are facing disease, hunger from crop destruction, and disruption to their education, as schools have become crowded with fleeing families or damaged in the floods.

While this is normally the rainiest time of the year in the region, this year’s rains have been more severe than usual, causing widespread flood damage to four regions (Bamako, Ségou, Koulikoro, and Gao) of Mali, the northern states of Nigeria and the Maradi region of Niger. These kinds of extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe as a result of the climate crisis, said Save the Children.

In Mali, where the government has declared a national state of disaster, the floods have forced 73,778 people including 32,889 children from their homes [2], many of whom are seeking shelter in schools, risking a delay to the school term which is scheduled to start in October.

Rama*, 11, from Mali told Save the Children: “We came to live in the school because of the flood that destroyed all our house as well as everything we owned: our farmyard, our clothes, our kitchen utensils, our food, especially my sister’s school supplies as well as our pretty doll that I loved very much.

“We sleep in a school with some neighbouring families who have also been affected, but there are also other families and many people I don’t know. I’m separated from my best friends in the neighbourhood, and I haven’t even heard from some for days. With the reopening of schools, we have no shelters, my grandmother is already worried that we will be chased away from the school. I don’t know yet if I will continue school this year because we lost everything in the water. I don’t think my parents will have the means to support me at school”.

In Nigeria, flooding has affected 29 of the country’s 36 states – four-fifths of the country – mostly in the northern areas. The torrential rainfall has led to the overflowing of dams and rising water levels of the two largest rivers, the Niger and the Benue, resulting in the death of over 200 people including children [3]. On top of those killed, more than 225,000 have been displaced from their homes across the country, while more than 2,100 have been injured [3].

According to Nigerian government data [4], over 115,265 hectares of farmland have also been damaged, in a country with already high rates of food insecurity. Save the Children recently estimated that one in every six children across Nigeria faced hunger in June-August this year – a 25% increase on the same period last year.

In Niger, flooding has affected all 8 regions of the country, with torrential rains and floods beginning in May washing away houses and destroying buildings, bridges and roads. At least 265 people have been killed [5] and children remain at risk of drowning, waterborne diseases and electrocution from exposed wires, Maradi , Zinder, and Tahoua (in southern Niger) have experienced the greatest devastation in terms of affected people and damaged houses, said Save the Children. As of 2 September, the official government figures on floods countrywide show 85 260 affected households (649 184 individuals) including 68 955 destroyed houses and 110 damaged classrooms [5].

Vishna Shah-Little, Regional Director of Advocacy, Communications, Campaigns and Media for Save the Children in West and Central Africa said:

“We expected this was coming with the rainy season – but this level of destruction is something else, and could have been avoided if action was taken sooner.

“These countries are already ravaged by conflict and insecurity, making it even harder to respond – it is critical that support gets to those who need it in a timely manner to prevent things from getting worse. And we need to see urgent, bold action on climate change from the global level as its impact on children becomes more and more visible.”

Save the Children is actively responding to flood victims’ needs in the Segou region of Mali through food security programs, cash transfers, the provision of water, hygiene and sanitation services, and child protection activities. The Segou region is the most affected in Mali, with 15,656 children affected, constituting about 51 per cent of the total affected children population.

In Nigeria, Save the Children is responding in Adamawa state, distributing foldable mattresses, blankets, and hygiene and sanitation products to the most vulnerable flood-affected households including children and the elderly.

In the global response to the climate crisis, Save the Children is calling for national governments to rapidly phase out the use and subsidy of fossil fuels and ensure a just and equitable transition in order to limit warming temperatures to 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels.

Leaders must also include the voices, needs and rights of children, particularly those affected by inequality and discrimination, in the global response to climate change, including in climate finance from higher-income countries to lower-income countries. At a practical level, this includes ensuring buildings like schools are more resilient to extreme weather events such as flooding so that children can learn safely.

Around the world, Save the Children works to create lasting change with and for children by supporting communities to strengthen their resilience to the climate crisis and calling on world leaders to tackle its root causes.

*name has been changed to protect anonymity

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children.

In a decisive move to address the growing concerns over the migration of health professionals, the Nigerian government recently approved a comprehensive “National Health Workforce Migration Policy”. 

The strategic policy, designed to curb health worker migration, carries significant weight. Its potential to mitigate the issue and bring about a substantial transformation in Nigeria’s healthcare system cannot be overstated.

The document was a result of a robust and inclusive collaborative effort, spearheaded by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (FMOH) in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and funded by the United Kingdom government’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). This underscores the shared responsibility in addressing health worker migration and the inclusivity of all stakeholders in the process. 

Introducing a Strategic Approach to Health Workforce Migration
Health worker migration has been a persistent and significant challenge for Nigeria’s healthcare sector. The increasing number of skilled professionals seeking opportunities abroad has led to Nigeria being one of the 55 countries with a severe shortage of health workers on the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguard List 2023. 

This trend compromises the delivery of quality healthcare services and threatens the nation’s ability to achieve health-related SDGs. 

The policy’s development involved many stakeholders in Nigeria’s health sector and the diaspora. It aligns with the new National health sector renewal initiative using a sector-wide approach (SWAP) with a focus on several key areas, including improving healthcare worker retention rates, promoting ethical recruitment practices, enhancing data collection for better workforce planning, and investing in healthcare worker education and capacity building. 

By addressing these critical issues, the policy seeks to ensure that Nigeria can meet its health workforce needs while contributing to the global health landscape. 

To address the effects of Nigeria’s health worker shortage, the FMOH has implemented critical policy interventions. These include increasing the training quota of health training institutions to boost the production of health workers and providing in-service training for 120,000 health workers to enhance the quality of care at PHCs. 

This will expand the capacity of available health workers to deal with the current health needs of the people and improve the motivation of these health workers; policies like the National Human Resource for Health (HRH) policy, task shifting and sharing policy and other guidelines to ensure optimal use of available Human resources for health. WHO supports the government’s efforts in strengthening evidence generation through the national health workforce registry, national health workforce account and health workforce profile for improved decision-making. 

A Path Forward
In a prior interview, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammed Pate, noted, “This policy represents our dedication to building a resilient health system that can meet the needs of our people. 

“This policy is more than just a response to the ongoing exodus of healthcare professionals; it’s a comprehensive strategy to manage, harness, and reverse health worker migration. It envisions a thriving workforce that is well-supported, adequately rewarded, and optimally utilised to meet the healthcare needs of all Nigerians” The Minister calls on “recipient countries to implement a one-for-one (1:1) match—training one worker to replace every publicly trained Nigerian worker they receive”.

Speaking on the importance of the new policy, Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO Representative in Nigeria, applauded the government for embarking on the laudable policy intervention to manage the uncoordinated migration of health workers.

 “The approval of this policy is a significant step towards achieving the health-related SDGs in Nigeria. By addressing the root causes of health worker migration and promoting sustainable workforce planning, Nigeria aims to deliver better health outcomes for its population. WHO is proud to have supported this initiative, which will benefit Nigeria and contribute to global health equity.”

Achieving the SDGs: A Collaborative Effort
Through funding from the UK Government, WHO supported evidence generation for policy making and implementation in Nigeria. 

Furthermore, the UK government, through FCDO, will support at least 12 health training institutions across six states with equipment to provide quality training for the increased number of students in Health training institutions in Nigeria.

 WHO has also mobilized the three levels of the organization to provide technical support to the government of Nigeria in implementing its health sector strategic blueprint, including issues on HRH. 

The WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguard List encourages countries to enter bilateral agreements informed by Health Labour Market Analysis (HLMA). WHO is providing technical support to Nigeria to conduct HLMA and develop an implementation plan for the new policy and guidelines for bilateral agreements with destination countries of these health workers. In recent years, WHO has strengthened platforms for coordinating HRH interventions in Nigeria at the national and sub-national levels. WHO will continue to support evidence-generation, capacity building and policy interventions to enhance the capacity of the Nigerian health workforce to achieve universal health coverage. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO) – Nigeria.

Diaspora nationals have commemorated the 63rd anniversary of the beginning of the armed struggle for Eritrea’s independence with patriotic zeal.

At a commemorative event in Frankfurt, Mr. Kibreab Tekeste, Charge d’Affaires at the Eritrean Embassy, remarked that 1 September marks the day when a few Eritrean patriots ignited the armed struggle for independence after their rights were denied through peaceful means. He added that 1 September is a day of remembrance and renewal, where the Eritrean people reaffirm their commitment to their nation’s cause.

Mr. Kibreab also urged nationals to consolidate their unity, as they have done in the past, and to strengthen their participation and contribution to national development programs. Nationals in the Republic of South Sudan also commemorated the 63rd anniversary in Juba. Noting that 1 September symbolizes the Eritrean people’s initiation of a long and arduous armed struggle to secure their denied rights, Mr. Yohannes Teklemicael, Eritrea’s Ambassador to South Sudan, called on nationals to enhance their involvement in national affairs.

Similarly, the Eritrean community in Qatar commemorated the 63rd anniversary of the beginning of the armed struggle for Eritrea’s independence. During the event, Mr. Ali Ibrahim Ahmed, Eritrea’s Ambassador to Qatar, provided an extensive briefing on the profound significance of this day in Eritrean history.

Nationals in Chicago, USA, also commemorated the 63rd anniversary. The event featured cultural programs that depicted the historical importance of the day.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

The 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit officially commenced this morning in Beijing.

The Summit was inaugurated by a keynote address from President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China. President Xi highlighted the significant contributions of the China-Africa Cooperation in advancing China-Africa relations over the past 24 years since its inception in 2000. He noted that the relationship between China and Africa, which spans over 70 years, has now reached a higher stage of development.

President Xi Jinping also presented a 10-point proposal aimed at fostering mutual development and partnership between China and Africa. He pledged over 50 billion dollars in funding for the implementation of various programs over the next three years.

At the opening event, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Chairman of the African Union, the Chairman of the China-Africa Cooperation, as well as representatives from four African regions, addressed the Summit.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.