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UN needs $1.1bn to support 8.4m in Nigeria’s North-East

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The United Nations said on Wednesday it would need $1.1 billion to provide humanitarian assistance to 8.4 million vulnerable Nigerians in the North-East this year.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, who disclosed this on Wednesday at the launching of the Nigeria Humanitarian Response Plan 2022 in Abuja, said 8.4 million people across troubled states like Borno, Adamawa and Yobe are in dire need of humanitarian response having been faced with a large-scale humanitarian and protection crisis.

Schmale said women, men, boys and girls are mostly affected by the conflict occasioned by Boko Haram insurgency in the region.

He said: “For many people in the North-East where conflict has raged for 12 years, we are now seeing the multiple displacements of people who are forced to leave behind their homes and livelihoods years ago.

“A disturbing aspect of this 12 years old conflict is that there are thousands of children who have never known peace in their lifetime.

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“Many children in the North-East have been born into a violent, insecure environment deprived of safety, education, health care and protection that is the right of each child.

“We must continue to explore durable solutions to decongest some of the long-standing camps and to care for both immediate needs and long term resilience of the people who are displaced.

“In this regard, it is projected that we will need over $1.1 billion to achieve these.

“Malnutrition is already threatening the survival of more than a million children in the North-East, with 1.4 million children under five expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in the year ahead.

“If we fail to act, if we fail to provide these children and youths with the assistance they need, we risk leaving a generation with little hope for their future with untreated scars from psychological trauma.”

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