About Nigeria

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, home to 180 million people and the largest economy on the continent. Although the country is rich in natural resources, poverty is widespread and health care infrastructure is poor. The majority of the health workforce is concentrated in urban areas, making access to services especially difficult for women and children living in more remote areas of the country. Vulnerable populations suffer from a range of health threats including food insecurity and infectious diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS.

In northeast Nigeria, conflict and insecurity have displaced millions of families over the last decade and left 10.6 million people in need of urgent assistance.

The Challenges

The HIV Epidemic

Nigeria has the second-largest HIV epidemic in the world. It’s estimated that two out of every three new HIV infections in West and Central Africa occur in Nigeria.

The country has made progress in reducing new infections since 2000, but there were still about 1.8 million people living with HIV in 2019. More than half of them were women. In 2018, just over half of all adults living with HIV were on treatment, while only 35% of children living with HIV were on treatment.

The epidemic has led to a large population of orphans and vulnerable children. In 2018, 1 million children in Nigeria were orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

Nigeria also has one of the highest burdens of tuberculosis in the world, with TB/HIV co-infection becoming an increasing concern for those living with HIV.

Bringing HOPE to Nigeria

Our History in Nigeria

Project HOPE has been working in Nigeria since 2012. In 2014, during the Ebola crisis, we collaborated with the CDC Foundation, the African Field Epidemiology Network, and the College of Medicine at the University of Lagos to improve infection prevention and support health facilities. In 2017, we deployed a team of health and nutrition experts to assess the humanitarian and health needs of internally displaced families in northeast Nigeria.

Today we are focused on reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS, preventing new infections, and improving health outcomes for the most at-risk populations — particularly orphans, vulnerable children, and their caregivers.

Fighting HIV

Since 2014, Project HOPE has worked to improve the quality of life for households with vulnerable children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS in Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, and Kano States. We support improvements in systems that ensure access to better care and protection, provide caregivers with financial literacy services, and help local organizations improve their capacity to provide quality health services.

In Lagos, Project HOPE is currently working to improve access to quality treatment and care for orphans and vulnerable children at risk of and affected by HIV and sexual violence. To do so, we are helping local and state governments build their capacity to deliver basic services and detect and respond to child rights violations.

In response to COVID-19, Project HOPE has also trained health care workers to better recognize and treat the virus, and educated vulnerable communities on how to stay safe.

Our Impact

Since 2014, Project HOPE has reached more than 210,000 orphans and vulnerable children in Nigeria with health services. We’ve also trained more than 130,000 caregivers in various aspects of care, support, and protection services for children.

This year alone, Project HOPE will reach thousands of children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS by linking them to services, while building the capacity of government institutions to improve the lives of vulnerable children and their caregivers.