Years of ongoing conflict between Boko Haram and the military Nigerian has caused waves of displacement and disrupted the lives of millions of people across Borno State.

More than one million people have fled to the state’s capital, Maiduguri, doubling its original population size. In the summer of last year, MSF teams already working in Maiduguri started to see high rates of malnutrition. In response, MSF’s medical programmes grew to include five health facilities, all of which include nutrition programmes. MSF also distributed food and worked to improve access to clean water and sanitation within the city.

Whilst the situation has now stabilized thanks to a massive deployment of aid, the emergency is not over. There are still vulnerable pockets within the city, and the situation is fragile; any rupture in the provision of humanitarian assistance could have dire consequences.

One of MSF’s health structures is in Fori, a neighbourhood in the southeast of the city. MSF runs a nutrition centre which treats around 1400 malnourished children as outpatients. The centre also has the capacity to treat 88 more severe cases who may have additional complications as inpatients.