Tag Archives: Assistance

UN Expresses Dissatisfaction With Volume Of Assistance To Bama IDPs

Posted on by
1

The United Nations is not satisfied with the volume of humanitarian assistance given to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Bama camp, Borno State, its Assistant Secretary General and regional humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel, Mr. Toby Lanzer said on Friday.

Lanza who was in Bama, 78km southeast of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, where he led a team of UN delegation and officials of the Borno State government to celebrate the 2016 world humanitarian day, said much more needed to be done for displaced persons.

Bama is one of the towns in Borno State that have suffered the worst of Boko Haram destructions. It gained global attention when over 100 persons were reported killed by starvation and malnutrition about three months ago.
The UN under-Secretary flew into Bama in a helicopter, a town that was virtually razed down by the terrorists after their occupation.

He said: “I am happy with what the United Nations and her partners have done to help the people of Bama. But I think we still have quite a road to travel.
“I am still not satisfied entirely and I will be calling for more assistance whether in demand for education, whether to make sure that all of your sisters and wives can give birth in a clean and safe environment; to make sure that people have roof over their heads or food in their stomachs or have access to their affairs so that they can help themselves.
“This is the aspiration of the United Nations and her partners. May they be able to share in this endeavour and to support you.”

It was no surprise that there was no infrastructure to house the displaced persons who had trooped into the town from recently liberated communities around Bama except a military controlled IDP camps, which is the town’s General Hospital.
The Borno State government had wanted to move the IDPs from the premises of the hospital into the rebuilt market complex, but the army commander in the town, had contrary view.
Commander of the 241 Battalion, Colonel Adamu Laka, said the IDPs had been provided with water and hygiene facilities as well as UN built schools for children.
He said he was worried that moving the IDPs may not be backed with resources for installation of water and hygiene facilities.

Read More: thisdaylive

UN Releases $13m For Life-saving Assistance To 250,000 People In North-east

Posted on by
1

The United Nations on Monday released 13 million dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to provide life-saving assistance to 250,000 people in the North-east area of Nigeria. Mr Stephen O’Brien, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, issued the release.

According to the UN, the destruction of crops and looting of livestock have left many people unable to support their families. “No fewer than 50,000 people need seeds and tools for the upcoming planting season and CERF funding will help them to rebuild their livelihoods.”

O’Brien said that a significant number of women and girls, and also men and boys, have suffered or witnessed terrible abuses. The CERF funds, he said, would enable humanitarian partners to provide critical psychosocial support and protection services.

“People have experienced unspeakable suffering due to the violence perpetrated by Boko Haram. We now have better access finally, and a chance to help them. The international community must take advantage of this opening to reach people with essential services and build on the CERF allocation to scale up the response,” he said.

The fund, he added, would support the provision of food, cash for food purchase, special child nutritional supplements, protection and health services to the most vulnerable people in the newly accessible areas through disbursements to the Food and Agriculture Organisation. Others are through the UN Department for Safety and Security, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF and World Food Programme.

The UN says the humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria was revised upwards by 51 million dollars in June. The UN is also calling for additional 279 million dollars for the humanitarian plan in Nigeria. To date, the UN said that the plan is only 22 per cent funded.

Credit: Vanguard

US Providing Over $240m In Development Assistance In Northeast Nigeria

Posted on by
679

The United States says it is currently providing over $240M in development and humanitarian assistance through comprehensive programs in north eastern Nigeria and the broader Lake Chad Basin region.

This is according to the Director of the United States International Agency For Development (USAID) Mission in Nigeria, Michael Harvey, who is in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, on an assessment tour.

He said the tour was to obtain first-hand information on the spending of sister donor agencies operating in war-torn northeast Nigeria and funded by USAID.

The insurgency problem in northeast Nigeria has forced millions of citizens out of their homes with school-age kids kept out of their classes, a situation that had made the USAID intensify its intervention programmes in the affected areas.

The Director of the USAID said the intervention programmes were targeted at Internally Displaced Persons in Borno, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi, Taraba and Yobe States.

USAID believes the task of addressing the many issues families in the displaced people’s camps as well as those in the host community are dealing with is overwhelming.

The victims of insurgency in Bakassi, originally from Gwoza Local Council in Borno State are the first to host the team.

They complained of poor living conditions and feeding, which they said had led to malnutrition and other illnesses.

“We need water and drugs and the weather is very harsh here because there are no trees. The sun disturbs us a lot,” one of the displaced persons, Hauwa Bello, told the group.

Part of the intervention plans of the USAID is to identify and empower displaced families preparing them for their return home.

The USAID also encouraged informal community schools assuring them of its willingness to partner with relevant authorities to give as many kids as possible unlimited access to education.

The region had seen over six years of insurgency and terror attacks mostly carried out by members of Boko Haram terrorist group.

Credit: ChannelsTv

Bristow Helicopter Pledges Assistance To Survivors, Deceased Families

Posted on by
1

Bristow Helicopter Limited on Thursday promised to assist survivors and families of the dead victims of its ill-fated chopper that plunged into the lagoon on Wednesday in Lagos.

Bristow Regional Director for Africa Duncan Moore made the pledge in a statement in Lagos.

“Our thoughts are with those affected by the unfortunate accident. We regret the loss of lives in the air crash and we are ready to assist them with our full resources.

“Our highest priority is to take care of our crew and clients and their family members and provide them with any assistance needed.

“Our personnel are currently working to confirm the number of people on board, their identities and the extent of any injury,” he said.

Read More: ngrguardiannews

Absence of Ministers Delays U.S Assistance to Nigeria

Posted on by
Reply

Notwithstanding the success of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the United States of America last month, the US government was said to have informed him that it would not start to address the requests brought by the Nigerian government until Buhari sets up his cabinet.

Buhari had gone to the US with a number of requests including seeking assistance from America in Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram, support in the reconstruction of the North-east, support in the war against corruption, assistance in tracking down Nigeria’s stolen funds by past corrupt government officials, and increased trade and investment between Nigeria and the US.

But he US government made it clear that while it was willing to help Nigeria address some of its challenges, its officials advised Buhari during his three-day visit to the country to set up his cabinet and put in place a crack team that could help address the multi-faceted problems of the country.

Reports provide that the issue was raised during some of the meetings the US government officials held with Buhari and his team, when the US, led by its president, Barak Obama, said it had expected Buhari to come to Washington with crucial members of his cabinet in order to hold fruitful and productive deliberations.

According to a source at the meetings, the US officials were somewhat disappointed with the president’s team during the visit, which comprised mainly civil servants, adding that the US reckoned that the civil servants would not be able to address any of the country’s requests or provide policy direction until Buhari sets up a team that would help him realise his plans for the country.

Although the source maintained that Buhari’s US visit was “highly successful”, given the renewed relations between the two countries, he stated that Nigeria should not expect much from the US until Buhari’s cabinet emerges, adding that the US was quite emphatic on Buhari’s team before lending support to Nigeria.

He revealed that the position of the US was reiterated during Buhari’s meeting with the US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Read More: thisdaylive