UN: 8.7m People in North-east Need $1.1bn Humanitarian Assistance

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The United Nations has said that 8.7 million people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states required $1.1 billion in humanitarian assistance this year.

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, made the revelation on the occasion of 2021 World Humanitarian Day and the formal presentation of the National Humanitarian Development Peace Framework.

He stated that an estimated 4.4 million people also need urgent humanitarian intervention with almost 800,000 in need of immediate aid.

He described the crisis in the North-east as a complex emergency that presents an intricate web of issues that require the engagement of different actors in the search for a durable solution.
The UN said the humanitarian crisis in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states was one of the largest in the world.

The UNRC said currently an estimated 1.9 million people, mostly women and children, were displaced in the three North-east, 1.4 million in the North-west and over one million in the North-central.
The UN said there were 41 million people worldwide at risk of dying of hunger across 43 countries.

According to the UN, 11.4 million of the affected people live in North-east Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Southern Madagascar, South Sudan and Yemen.
The UNRC expressed worries that the ongoing conflict ravaging the North-east had resulted in a deteriorating security situation, increasing food insecurity and risk of catastrophic food insecurity.

He warned that the situation could present dire outcomes if preventive measures were not scaled up and enhanced during the lean season.
He declared that humanitarian solutions could not solve the problems in Nigeria, noting the only solution to the insurgency is the restoration of peace, engagement of a diverse range of actors, the stepping up of the counter-insurgency by the military and the application of dialogue and a peace-building process.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, presented the National Humanitarian Development Peace Framework.

She said the strategic intent of the framework was to reduce vulnerabilities and support and promote peace and stability in the country.