The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) yesterday unveiled 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan to support 6.1 million people affected by insurgency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. The UNOCHA said more than $1 billion in funding was needed this year to help millions of people affected by Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria.
The humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, said life-saving emergency assistance to the most vulnerable in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states was the immediate priority. He said funding would also go towards improving the quality of programmes already in place and increase the ability of local agencies to respond in the longer term.
He said: ‘‘In doing so, humanitarian partners will require USD 1.05 billion to reach 6.1 million people with humanitarian assistance. Launching the document in Abuja, yesterday, Kallon said some 70 percent of last year’s appeal for USD 1 billion in funding was met, making Nigeria ‘one of the best-funded appeals globally.’
A total of USD 196 million has been carried over and will go towards programmes providing food, shelter, clean water, education for out-of-school children and medical care. Kallon however said, ‘‘Most of the carry-over will be exhausted in the first quarter of the year.’’
The UN and other aid agencies have previously warned about the potential effects of under-funding the humanitarian response to the insurgency. Reports said at least 20,000 people have been killed since 2009 and more than 2.6 million have been forced into camps for the displaced or to stay with distant family or friends elsewhere in Nigeria. Others have fled across the border into Cameroon, Chad or Niger.
Read More at: https://leadership.ng
Share this
