UN throws $10.5 million into North-east Nigeria

The United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Fund has allocated over of $10.5 million to reach vulnerable Nigerians in the North-eastern part of the country.

The UN, through the new humanitarian fund set up to tackle the crisis-hit north-east of Nigeria, said the sum is meant to help thousands of women, children and men in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance in the region.

According to a statement by the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “The crisis in Nigeria’s north-east and the Lake Chad region is one of the most severe in the world today”.

OCHA said this has left over 8.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in the three worst-affected Nigerian states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe alone.

The UN said the $10.5 million allocation by the new fund – the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF) – will prioritize life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable, and also expand the humanitarian assistance provided by the UN and partners to the hard-to-reach and newly accessible areas.

“This crisis has caused an untold loss of life and liberty across the north-east of Nigeria and civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict,” said Mr. Edward Kallon, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria.

“These funds will go towards addressing some of the key priority areas in the humanitarian response that have not yet been financially supported, including the provision of safe drinking water, emergency shelter and health services to those in need,” he further stated.

The UN has it that the NHF is the fourth largest single-country appeal globally, and that to date, the appeal is 43 per cent funded.

TheNewsGuru reports the countries that contributed to this fund are Sweden, Germany, Norway, Belgium, Ireland, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, the Arab Gulf Program for Development, Azerbaijan, Malta and Sri Lanka.

We can authoritatively report that the UN is expecting further allocations for the region in the coming months.