UN Security Council Tours Lake Chad Basin Countries

The delegation visited the town of Maroua in the far north of Cameroon where thousands of internally displaced persons and Nigerian refugees live in difficult conditions. (M. Besheer/VOA)

In Niamey, Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou told the council that his country is coping with the fight against Boko Haram, but also the effects of climate change, the drop in mineral prices, and lost trade revenue with its biggest trade partner, Niger

The council traveled to Maiduguri, in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno state – the epicenter of the Boko Haram insurgency – to visit a camp for the internally displaced. (M. Besheer/VOA)

U.S. Deputy U.N. Ambassador Michelle Sison spoke out at every stop on the need for the protection of women and girls. Here she talks with women in Maiduguri IDP camp. (M. Besheer/VOA)

Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima told the council that Boko Haram has been “decimated to such a level” that it can no longer hold any territory in northeastern Nigeria. (M. Besheer/VOA)

The U.N. says 450,000 children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition in northeast Nigeria. (M. Besheer/VOA)

In Abuja, council members from (left to right) Uruguay, the United States, Ukraine and Sweden are greeted by Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama before meeting Acting President Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo. (M. Besheer/VOA)

Council President for March and trip co-leader, British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, said members were “staggered and shocked” by the scale of the crisis after visiting Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. (M. Besheer/VOA)