By some estimates, the Nigerian Civil War was the greatest catastrophe ever to have occurred in Africa. Over the June, 1967 to January, 1970 period, the conflict may have claimed as many as two million lives. This presentation will be delivered by a former relief officer of the International Committee of the Red Cross who participated in the Biafra relief action over the May to October, 1969 period as an entry-level logistics worker, and from November 1969 to July 1970 as a “UN Forward Observer” assigned to the Third Division of the Nigerian Army. The presentation outlines causes and consequences of the conflict, procedures followed by the relief action, and examples of strategies that failed to have their intended impact. Lessons from Biafra attest to the value of implementation science in crisis situations.

Dr. Phillips is currently Professor, Population and Family Health, Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health where he teaches demography and directs research on health systems development in Africa. Prior to joining the Mailman faculty he had Population Council resident assignments in the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Thailand and positions in Nigeria with the US Peace Corps, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the United Nations. At the Mailman School, Dr. Phillips is Director of Advancing Research on Comprehensive Health Systems, a program for developing evidence-based strategies for improving primary health care program functioning. He is currently Principal Investigator of the collaborative initiative known as the National Program for Strengthening the Implementation of the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Initiative in Ghana: CHPS+.

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