Highlights • The impact of COVID-19 and associated mitigation

measures may potentially result in doubling the number of food insecure people in the region, from 21.2 million to an estimated 43 million in the next six months, while increasing by 18 percent the number of children with acute malnutrition, from 9.7 million to 11.6 million.

• Initial estimates of immediate additional needs created by COVID-19 suggested that some 8.2 million people might need to be targeted in the region. Serious funding gaps persist despite rapidly increasing needs and the overall net funding requirement over the next six months (June-November 2020) is USD 711 million.

• COVID-19 sensitive approaches have been rolled out across all WFP operations in the region, as social distancing measures and movement restrictions take effect and schools are shut across the region. School feeding, livelihood and nutrition programmes have been temporarily suspended or reoriented, with measures including revamp of distribution sites to ensure social distancing and safe hygiene practices, distribution of advanced two to three-month food rations, and compensation of school meals with take-home rations.

• A regional air service hub was set up in Ghana to provide passenger and cargo air services and to facilitate medical evacuations for the humanitarian community. A field hospital in Ghana is also at its final stage of construction, which will serve to support humanitarian workers in the region should they contract COVID-19.

Regional Overview • Cases of COVID-19 in the region were first recorded in

Nigeria on 27 February 2020 and spread to all countries in the region by April, with commercial and administrative capitals the most affected. As of 28 May, the region had 38,497 confirmed cases, with Nigeria the most affected (8,733 cases), followed by Ghana 7,303 cases). Based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) situation update, as of 25 May, top 10 countries in Africa account for 80 percent of the case load in the continent (from the region,

six countries are part of the list and include Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal), while four countries (including Cameroon and Nigeria from the West Africa region) account for 68 percent of all deaths reported.

• Governments in the region have set up various measures to prevent further spread, including restriction of movements, mandatory wear of masks, closure of borders (except for goods and cargos), suspension of commercial flights, closure of schools, markets and businesses until further notice, curtailing of public gatherings, curfews in most of the countries and total or partial lockdowns, especially in major urban centers. Starting mid-May, gradual easing of some of the COVID-19 lockdown measures were noted in a number of countries including Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali and Niger, including the lifting of curfews and bans on religious gatherings and gradual reopening of schools. However, the state of emergency remains in all countries.

• March 2020 Cadre Harmonisé estimates that 21.2 million people (70 percent more than last year) are projected to be food insecure in this region this lean season (June-August 2020). Climate factors and conflicts, causing rising displacement and disrupting livelihoods and market flows, are key drivers of food insecurity in many areas in the region, particularly in the Liptako Gourma (border region of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger), Lake Chad Basin and Cameroon (Northwest and Southwest regions). The impact of COVID-19 and associated mitigation measures may reduce economic activity and people’s ability to engage in livelihoods, potentially resulting in doubling the number of food insecure people in the region, to an estimated 43 million in the next six months (figures were revised recently and will be available shortly).

• In the region, UNICEF and WFP estimate that the number of children with acute malnutrition will also increase by 18 percent in 2020 (between April and December), from an initially estimated figure of 9.7 million to 11.6 million, due to the degradation of food security situation and the impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable households.

• Schools closure in West Africa region has affected 18 million schoolchildren supported through government-led

WFP Regional Bureau for West and Central Africa COVID-19 Situation Report #1 28 May 2020

WFP Photo/ WFP distribution site in Central Africa Republic ensures safety of beneficiaries and staff

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national school feeding programmes and 2.2 million schoolchildren in WFP-supported schools.

• The high food insecurity levels in the region are expected to further worsen as economic activities and market flows are constrained and the lean season approaches (June-August). The pandemic also risks further fueling instability in already conflict-affected countries in the region, especially in Cameroon (North-West and South-West regions), Central African Republic (CAR), the Central Sahel and Nigeria, where violent security incidents including attacks by non-state armed groups continue to trigger population displacements and increase humanitarian needs. A flare-up of tension was also reported in some urban centers in Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea linked to the measures put in place, including lockdown orders, roadblocks and construction of coronavirus testing centers in their communities. The upward trend of localized community unrest is expected to continue in some countries such as Nigeria, where the COVID-19 outbreak is spreading rapidly, and other areas where most severe government restrictions are driving economic challenges and food insecurity.

Resource Mobilization and Partnerships • Based on the revised COVID-19 Global Humanitarian

Response Plan (GHRP May update), the total funding requirement for the region (including COVID and non-COVID needs) amount to USD 4.1 billion. The food security cluster has the highest share, followed by the nutrition cluster. Four additional countries from the region (Benin, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Togo) were included in the revised GHRP, to account for their COVID-19 related needs.

• In 2020, the region requires USD 1.7 billion to carry out life-saving and life-changing operations at planned scale, and this amount is expected to move up to approximately USD 2 billion with ongoing prioritization exercises and budget revisions to respond to the increasing needs of the affected populations due to COVID-19.

• The overall net funding requirements for WFP’s operations in the region over the next six months (June-November 2020) amount to USD 711 million, representing 61 percent of the requirements over the same period (USD 1.2 billion).

WFP Operations • In 2020, WFP had planning to reach 13 million

beneficiaries in the region with lifesaving food assistance and integrated resilience response operations.

• Following the outbreak of COVID-19, Western and Central Africa was assessed as a hotspot by a corporate impact risk analysis exercise with regards to WFP’s operations. In response to the emergency state, all WFP country offices

in the region conducted a prioritization of activities and review of their operational modalities.

• WFP’s COVID-19 response plan and related country offices’ contingency plans have identified immediate actions to sustain WFP’s life-saving assistance and delivery of common services in support of the health response. Concurrently, WFP is supporting national Governments in mitigating the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in key systems. While some interventions will be part of national early recovery responses three to six months from now, many actions are already being undertaken today. These are guided by a Mid-Term Program Framework developed in the past month and shared with WFP country offices in May, looking at systems WFP can support, sustain, expand and complement national responses and systems.

• With available resources, WFP is complementing national efforts in addressing the urgent needs of vulnerable people affected by conflicts, lean season, and COVID-19 pandemic (either directly or indirectly), prioritizing relief food assistance to targeted populations.

• COVID-19 sensitive approaches have been rolled out across all WFP operations in the region. For example, food distribution points are being increased to minimize crowds; sites have been revamped to ensure social distancing; distribution times were structed; handwashing stations are being provided with hygiene items to ensure safety of beneficiaries and staff. Where possible, advanced two to three- month rations are distributed to minimize frequency of contact and gatherings. WFP is also strengthening partners’ capacities in incorporating these preventive measures at distribution sites.

• Other activities have been temporarily suspended or reoriented, as social distancing measures take effect and schools are shut across the region. In Cameroon, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Niger and Nigeria, the school feeding programmes were adapted to provide take-home rations to targeted school-children. This same option is under discussion in a number of other countries as well, including Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal. Communal livelihood activities that have not been suspended are ongoing at reduced scale under a new structure to limit the number of participants. Efforts are ongoing to offer individual and household level resilience-strengthening activities such as composting, micro-gardens, fending, and small livestock fattening. Under the nutrition component, critical malnutrition prevention activities are ongoing and WFP is supporting dissemination of accurate information on COVID-19 prevention measures to hard-to reach areas which include some of its operational areas.

• WFP is scaling up remote monitoring systems and strengthening national capacities in conducting food security assessments to inform targeting and prioritization efforts. The monitoring of the pandemic’s effects on food security using mobile vulnerability analysis and mapping (mVAM) is ongoing in six pilot countries in the region, namely Burkina Faso, Cameroon, CAR, Mali,

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Niger and Nigeria. The first phase scheduled to take place between April and June 2020 is ongoing. Remote household food security and market price monitoring using mVAM tools is also ongoing or under preparation in other countries, including Chad, Gambia and Liberia.

• With the rainy season approaching, access to markets and roads may be further hampered. Food prepositioning is critical to mitigate possible supply chain disruptions. WFP is thus prepositioning adequate stocks for remote areas before the rainy season, acknowledging that cash-based transfer (CBT) solutions may become unfeasible in settings with reduced market access, shortage of supplies to retailers and reduced operational capacity overall.

Service Provision • Upon requests from Governments and the humanitarian

communities, WFP has been providing, since the start of the pandemic, procurement, transport and storage services to partners for critical medical products, personal protective equipment (PPE), WASH-related items and foods. In CAR, Cameroon and Chad, WFP is working on procuring mobile storage units (MSUs) to serve as COVID-19 control stations at the customs checkpoints for drivers and trucks coming into the country, to store medical gears and equipment, as isolation rooms, to help set up field clinics, etc.

• The WFP-managed United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) in Accra has been chosen as one of the eight Global Humanitarian Response Hubs for the COVID-19 response, to facilitate the efficient movement of medical and humanitarian cargo and staff to the front lines of the pandemic, and to enable medical evacuation if required. Cargo on behalf of humanitarian and health partners is being received at the hub, consolidated and moved onwards to countries in West and Central Africa. UNHRD in Accra has supported four organisations (WFP, WHO, MSF and UNICEF) dispatch 44 consignments (138 mt/688 m3) to 31 countries for their COVID-19 responses since early February 2020. These shipments totalled over USD 1 million dollars worth of personal protection equipment (PPE) items, interagency health kits, WASH items and logistics equipment. UNHRD Accra also continues to provide logistics services to its partners for non-COVID-19 related issues. Passenger flights are also operating from the hub since the launch of the operation in 1 May, taking health and humanitarian responders to areas where they are most needed in the region.

• The United Nations Humanitarian Air Services (UNHAS) flights continue to facilitate transport of critical goods and materials for the humanitarian community in the region where operational, including CAR, Mali and Nigeria. In Cameroon, Niger and Mauritania, due to movement restrictions in and out, the flights were suspended, impacting in-country operations. On 24 April, UNHAS flights resumed in Cameroon, following joint appeal letters from WFP and donors to grant UNHAS clearance to

carry humanitarian air operations while flights remain suspended in Niger and in Mauritania.

• Upon the request of the humanitarian community, WFP in partnership with WHO is in the process of establishing a field hospital in Accra, Ghana, to support humanitarian workers in the region should they contract COVID-19. WFP is erecting the semi-permanent, soft-walled and stand-alone treatment centre, which is planned to have 92 beds, and WHO will be responsible for management, staffing and operation of the field hospital which is in its final stage of construction.

• A triage centre is under procurement process in Senegal by the Regional Bureau. The system will be accessible to all WFP staff and their dependents living in Senegal and will be activated if demands go beyond the national response capacity. This centre will strengthen the local capacity for early medical management at home and infection control while reducing the burden on the Senegalese health system.

Inter-Agency Coordination • The UN Country Teams in the region have developed UN

contingency plans and set up COVID-19 task forces to coordinate and enhance the UN’s contribution towards the national response efforts. WFP is participating in several working groups, sectors or clusters, especially in countries under emergency settings, including the Central Sahel, Nigeria, CAR and Cameroon, to harmonize a multisectoral approach for the COVID-19 response.

• Where activated, through the food security clusters (FSCs), WFP and partners are monitoring food security situation, harmonizing food assistance modalities, targeting and activities, discussing intervention approaches, etc. In Burkina Faso for example, the FSC supported production of standard operating procedure (SOP) documents related to food distribution, CBT, child awareness, pregnant and lactating women and nutrition.

• Through the logistics clusters, WFP and partners are facilitating transport of various relief, the management or construction of storage facilities and provision of cargo movement notifications, while the emergency telecommunications clusters are providing internet connectivity services.