Boko Haram: Over 10 million people in Nigeria, 3 other African countries need aid to survive -
UNMore than 10 million people would require aid in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger due to the security challenges in the countries, the United Nations said.The body called on donor countries to step up their funding in 2018.
- The United Nations said that over 10 million people in Nigeria, Cameroun, Chad and Niger need aid to survive
- The body said the activities of Boko Haram and other crises have left many people vulnerable
- It, therefore, called on donor countries to step up their humanitarian funding in 2018
More than 10 million people would require aid in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger as a result of the security challenges in the countries, the United Nations said on Thursday, March 1, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
The UN?s assistant secretary general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, Ms Ursula Mueller, who stated this at the end of her visit to Chad, called for urgent support for the countries, especially Chad.
Mueller said the humanitarian emergency across the Lake Chad basin was among the most severe in the world.
READ ALSO: Yusuf Buhari pictured thanking the president after his return from treatment abroad
She said: ?Persistent insecurity and Boko Haram operations mean that more than 10 million people in four countries ? Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria ? will need aid assistance this year just to survive?.
She called for urgent funding to support 4.4 million people in Chad, including refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons, as well as the communities hosting them.
Mueller underscored the need for durable solutions to the crisis in the Lac region, as noted by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
OCHA said the closure of Chad?s border with Nigeria from the beginning of the crisis in the Lac region in 2015, together with the continued implementation of emergency measures, have also had an impact on local populations who already face poor regional development.
Mueller said: ?The activities of the extremist group Boko Haram, as well as violence in Sudan and the Central African Republic, have affected 500,000 people there, including 137,000 people the UN has deemed particularly vulnerable.
?During my visit to displacement sites, I saw the difficult living conditions and lack of means displaced communities face.
?It is unacceptable that these men, women and children who have lost everything, their home, belonging, livelihood and very often family members, continue to live in fear and uncertainty.?
Mueller was on a 10-day Chad, mission to the Central African Republic (CAR) and Cameroon, where she saw see first-hand the devastating humanitarian consequences of ongoing violence.
The UN official said she was moved by the solidarity of host communities who are sharing the little they have with those forced to run for their lives.
?It is essential to strengthen the livelihoods of these communities who are the first lifeline for those fleeing violence and insecurity,? she stated.
According to her, the crisis is taking place against a wider backdrop of recurrent food shortages and entrenched poverty across Chad, where nearly four million people require emergency food assistance and more than 200,000 children under five are at risk of dying from severe acute malnutrition.
However, funding for humanitarian operations there has not kept pace with increased needs, she regretted.
PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!
Mueller urged countries to step up their support to Chad, which requires 544 million dollars in humanitarian funding in 2018, which so far, was less than four per cent funded.
NAIJ.com previously reported that the director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Audrey Azoulay, condemned the abduction of schoolgirls from the Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe, by Boko Haram insurgents.
Azoulay, who was speaking at the ongoing international conference on saving the Lake Chad in Abuja on Wednesday, February 28, said the organisation would support Nigeria in ensuring the girls' safe return.
Newsmen reported that the conference was attended by Presidents Muhammadu Buhari, Mahammadou Issoufu of Niger Republic, Idriss Debby Itno of Chad, Faustin-Archange Touaderae of Central African Republic and Ali Bongo of Gabon.
Smartphones giveaway. Hurry up! 1 week until winner announced on NAIJ.com TV.
Source: Naija.ng
Source:
Boko Haram: Over 10 million people in Nigeria, 3 other African countries need aid to survive -
UN
Total Members: 
