Nigeria has officially declared the presence of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) on February 7th 2006. Since then, the United Nations System together with other development partners has consistently assisted the Government of Nigeria in containing the disease.

FAO, WHO, UNICEF, UNDP and the Resident Coordinator’s Office with partners (including the World Bank, PACE Organization, the European Commission Delegation, DFID, USAID, PACE, CDC, and embassies of Japan, Israel, France, and the USA) undertook field mission and carried out assessment needs, assisted the Federal Department of Livestock and Pest Control Services, (FDL&PCS) of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, (FMARD), the Federal Ministry of Health, to finalize the Avian Influenza contingency plan and the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, (FMINO) in raising public awareness on the potential danger of the HPAI.

Despite control measures, the disease spread to eventually 38 Local Government Areas, LGAs in 14 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

Since the first outbreak, the former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo met with the representatives of donor agencies and development partners on February 15th 2006 and the meeting resulted in the creation of an Avian Flu Crisis Management Centre, AICMC to coordinate activities and disseminate information on the prevention and control of Avian Influenza. Three committees were set up: the Steering Committee, the Technical Committee and the Communication Committee.

The UN efforts to help the Government of Nigeria, GON in containing the disease has set up a working mechanism based on the comparative advantage; the UNICEF handling the communication aspect, WHO, the Human Health, FAO, the Animal Health, UNDP the governance and the socio economic impact of AI and the Resident Coordinator’s office insures the coordination of work within the UN country team and liaises with other development partners.