The Benue State Taskforce on Durable Solution for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have met to define roles and the action plan for humanitarian response. 

The committee has also shared strategic plan and specific responsibilities to various MDAs.

The Durable Solution for the IDPs is basically targeted at the reintegration and resettlement of the Internally Displaced Persons back to their ancestral homes.

The State Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hon. Aondowase Kunde said it became necessary for the Taskforce which has to work in collaboration with different ministries and agencies, to come together and share information, aimed at coming up with a workable document for the humanitarian response in the state.

Kunde, who doubles as the Chairman of the Taskforce, said the meeting was in collaboration with the Bureau for International Cooperation and Development, and the roles of the ministries, departments and agencies were defined to the various heads, adding that upon completion, the document will be presented to the Governor in line with the guideline he has given them to work.  

“We called all the MDAs together, in collaboration with the Bureau of International Cooperation and Development. We drafted the documents of humanitarian actions; the state action plan. We were able to define the roles of the MDA's to the Commissioners and heads of the concerned Agencies. What we are doing is to gather this information together towards building a workable state action plan for humanitarian response.

“At the meeting which was attended by Ministries and Agencies, we shared documents, and each ministry or agency is going back to work on it and we agreed to come back on Friday to peruse it together; make adjustments, recommendations and subtractions of what is not necessary in the documents. This will be done and will be presented to his Excellency, in line with the guide he has given us to work,” Kunde said.

Also responding, the Technical Adviser on Programmes, Bureau for International Cooperation and Development, Mr. John Akuse, also said the meeting was targeted at working with the Ministries on their defined roles in the development of an action plan for humanitarian affairs for Benue State.

According to him, templates have already been sent and responses are being expected from each of the MDAs regarding the challenges and the problems they are facing, as well as what needs to be done to make their work better.

“The ministries will help us to create a response plan based on the issues brought to us from the ministries. We are not doing it on behalf of the ministries; they are coming to tell us the challenges and problems they are facing, and what they need to do their work better. The end result from this is a humanitarian response plan,’’ Akuse explained.

Present at the meeting were commissioners from various Ministries; Health, Cooperatives and Rural Development; Industry, Trade and Investment; Agriculture and Food Security; Women Affairs and Social Welfare. 

Others were Commissioners for Education and Knowledge Economy; Youth, Sports and Creativity; Lands, Survey and Mineral Resources.

Also, the Commissioners of Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change; Justice and Public Order.

The State Emergency Management Agency and Commission for Peace and Conflict Reconciliation were all present.