The United Nations (UN) said on Wednesday that the humanitarian community and the government had inaugurated the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan for the north-eastern part of Nigeria.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres disclosed this at a news conference in New York.

 

According to Dujarric, the plan needs 1.1 billion dollars to provide critical aid and services to 5.5 million people impacted by the conflict in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states.

 

“An estimated 8.4 million people require humanitarian assistance in Nigeria in 2022 and over 2.2 million people are displaced, facing daily threats to their health, food security, and safety.

 

“In 2021, the humanitarian community and our partners assisted close to five million people, with 1.8 million receiving critical protection services and 1.3 million benefiting from nutritional support.’’

 

In January, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (USG/ERC), Martin Griffiths, visited Nigeria to see first-hand the humanitarian situation and response in the northeast.

 

Griffiths was also in Nigeria to raise international awareness about the deteriorating humanitarian situation and bring attention to the ongoing regional conflict affecting the Lake Chad Basin.

 

 

At the inauguration of the Plan, Mr. Matthias Schmale, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria said 8.4 million people from across Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states were in dire need of Humanitarian response having been faced with an alarming large scale Humanitarian and protection Crisis.

 

Schmale said that many women, men, boys, and girls are most affected by the conflict in the northeast, adding that 2.2 million people were internally displaced last year.

 

“For many people in the northeast 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-year-old conflict is that there are thousands of children who have never known peace in their lifetime.

 

“Many children in the northeast 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,” he said.

 

 

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq, said over the years the humanitarian community and the Nigerian government had provided life-saving support to millions of affected people in Borno, AdamawaAdamawa, and Yobe states.

 

Farouq said in spite of the affected population showing immense resilience, 8.4 million people in northeast Nigeria were projected to need Humanitarian aid in 2022.

 

She said that the region was facing a deteriorating protection crisis that disproportionately affects women and girls who are at risk of gender-based violence and sexual abuse.

 

According to her, millions of people struggle to have their basic needs met and the fluctuating food prices have further destabilised the food security situation in the country.