By Emmanuel Elebeke & Eneh Ocheme
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR says it is seeking for $848 million and $135 million for continued provision of food, water shelter and protection to the most vulnerable people in Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

The Commission made the call during the launch of the 2019-2021 Refugee Humanitarian Response Strategy for North-East Nigeria and the 2019-2020 Regional Refugee Response Plan in Abuja.

It therefore called for support to respond to a humanitarian crisis that is now in its tenth year.

According to the UN, million of civilians in the affected areas have continued to grapple with extreme adversity across north-east Nigeria and the rest of the lake Chad regions, where a surge in violence has uprooted tens of thousands more people, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation.

The UN explained that the launched strategies are seeking $848 million and $135 million to continue providing food, water shelter and protection to the most vulnerable p[people in Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

The humanitarian response strategy also articulates a collective vision for the next three years of humanitarian action and marks the first time in Nigeria that humanitarian actors are adopting a multi-year approach.

‘‘We must sustain the effort made over the recent year to ensure that aid reaches those who need it most. The decade-long conflict had brought immense suffering upon children, women, men, their families and communities. We have saved millions of lives, and as we strive to provide immediate response to new and existing humanitarian heeds, we must also focus on addressing the causes of such untold suffering,” said UN humanitarian coordinator for Nigeria, said Mr. Edward Kallon.

Humanitarian organization in Nigeria are targeting 6.2 million people hardest-hit by crisis in Borno Adamawa and Yobe state in the country’s north-east. Although aid targeted almost the same number of people in 2018, this year’s budget is around $250 million less than the previous year, based on assessed needs and the realistic capacity to deliver aid. Last year, donor provided 67 percent of the funds, or $700 million, enabling humanitarians to provide aid to more than 5.5 million people.
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UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said it is seeking funding for the 228,500 Nigerian refugee who have fled into neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger, and point to a disturbing trend of events attacks are still happening, killing civilians and forcing thousands to flee to their lives. Young girls, old women and aid workers continue to bear the brunt of this escalating theatre of violence,’ said Liz Ahua, regional refugee coordinator for Nigeria refugee and UNHCR regional Representative for West Africa.

The escalation in the conflict has thwarted the people’s intention of returning to their homes. “ some refugees that attempted to return to their homes and communities have become displaced multiple times in their own country or have retreated to Cameroon, Chad and Niger to continue in exile,” Mrs. Ahua added .

‘‘As Nigerian refugees continue to arrive in very remote and impoverished communities in neighboring countries, I” it is time to broaden or response towards a longer term approach, to support those forced to flee and the communities hosting them, ads they are already living below the poverty line and in dire need as their capacity to help those displaced is stretched to the limit.”

The UN development program (UNDP) is co-launching with UNHCR the Nigeria regional refugee response plan, “the continuing conflict in north-east Nigeria further increased the vulnerability of refugees, IDPs, families and host communities already facing deep development challenges,” warned UNDP”s regional coordinator, Nana Oumou Toure-sy.

“Together with humanitarian partners and governments, UNDP supports the comprehensive response crisis by targeting weaknesses and vulnerabilities of refugees and host communities as away to mitigate the risk of conflict between communities. This will ensure suitability of humanitarian and development response especially in longer term and protracted crises.”

In his address, President Mohammadu Buhari, represented by his Vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo regretted that Lake Chad has continued to reduce in suze due to many activities, which has made the people living in the region to be poor.

He promised to work with the UNHCR to ameliorate the challenge of displaced persons in the affected region.

He also promised to work with relevant partners to secure lives and property in other regions.
Today, about 2.5 million people are displaced across the Lake Chad region, with 1.8 million in Nigeria alone and 228,500 being refugees in neighboring countries. A recent upsurge in violence in north-east Nigeria has displaced over 80,000 civilians who have sought refuge bin crowded camps or towns in Boron state and are surviving in arduous living conditions.

Over 15,000 have fled to neighboring Cameroon and Chad in the past weeks. The hostilities have also strained humanitarian operations and forced aid workers to pull out from some location. The destruction of livelihood and infrastructure widespread: around 1.7 million people are currently food insured in Borno Adamawa and Yobe states; 368,000 children are severely acutely malnourished ; two-third of health facilities have been damaged; and around 900,000 children lack schooling.

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