The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced Monday that it will shut 150 of its 300 health clinics this month. The closures come as the agency struggles with a complete absence of new donor funding despite issuing a $130 million emergency appeal to sustain operations through 2025.
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WFP’s head of communications, Chi Lael, warned that the clinic closures represent just the beginning of a broader humanitarian catastrophe threatening regional stability.
“The immediate and most brutal effect will be on child nutrition,” Lael said, describing the closures as an unavoidable consequence of international donor fatigue. The WFP official revealed that the agency has been unable to secure any new funding to continue providing food and nutrition support to 1.3 million people across the region.
The crisis unfolds against the backdrop of Nigeria’s record food emergency, with 31 million people nationwide facing hunger risks. In the northeast specifically, nearly one in five residents experiences acute food insecurity, a direct result of years of insurgency and mass displacement that have devastated local agricultural systems and economic structures.
Nigeria’s investment in addressing the crisis has been minimal, with the government allocating just $326,000 this year for tackling malnutrition and stunting in high-burden states – a figure humanitarian experts describe as woefully inadequate given the scale of the emergency.
The funding crisis is an indication of the broader challenges facing humanitarian agencies across Africa, where donor contributions have dropped precipitously in recent years. US President Donald Trump’s significant cuts to foreign aid, combined with European countries redirecting resources toward domestic priorities following the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war, have created a perfect storm of reduced international support.
Medical organisations have been sounding alarms about the deteriorating situation for months. In July, Doctors Without Borders warned of soaring child malnutrition rates in northern Nigeria, characterising the crisis as “preventable” but “exacerbated by funding gaps.”
Beyond the immediate health implications, WFP officials express deep concern about the potential security ramifications of the aid reduction. The region’s fragile stability, built partly on consistent humanitarian support, could face serious threats as basic services disappear.
“The fear is that when food assistance ends, so will stability in northern Nigeria,” Lael cautioned. “And the longer this is left unfunded, the harder it will be to pull the region back.”
The precarious nature of humanitarian operations in conflict zones is seen in the clinic closures, where international support can evaporate rapidly despite ongoing crises. For the 300,000 children who will lose access to treatment, the funding shortfall shows not just a policy failure but a direct threat to their survival.
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