·
Funding Promised In
Oslo Stalled
Chioma Umeha
At least $2.2 billion is needed for humanitarian
assistance in the region spanning Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, but only
$460 has been delivered, said Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian
Refugee Council.
Six months after donors at the Oslo Conference
committed funding for humanitarian support in the Lake Chad Region with nearly
800,000 severely malnourished children, only 57 per cent of the funding has
come in.
At least $2.2 billion is needed for humanitarian
assistance in the region spanning Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, but only
$460 has been delivered, said Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian
Refugee Council.
“Lack of sufficient humanitarian funding is
putting young children’s lives at risk,” warned Egeland.
“The donations from the Oslo conference have
been crucial, but we are not able to avert a massive loss of lives without
large additional funding for our humanitarian operations in the conflict-ridden
areas. We need improved security for civilians and aid workers, and access to
all those in need, but we must also build a bigger humanitarian muscle that can
provide for the suffering millions,” said Egeland.
Boko Haram violence has
spread to Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, causing violent confrontations with
security forces and forcing people from their homes.
Many are unable to
cultivate their land, causing a food crisis.
In Nigeria 5.2 million
people now remain food insecure, including 50,000 who are already living in
famine-like conditions.
“We fear that we only
see a portion of the massive needs, as large areas remain inaccessible for
humanitarian organizations,” said Egeland.
A consultative group
for Lake Chad consisting of representatives from Germany, Norway and the UN, in
addition to the four countries surrounding Lake Chad, will have their first
meeting in Berlin on Wednesday, 6 September.
The Norwegian Refugee
Council has stressed humanitarian funding and access should be top of the
agenda.
“Inadequate funding is
currently hampering our ability to deliver timely and life-saving assistance to
people in need. Before this is put in place, there will be no hope and
stability in the region,” Egeland said.
Facts:
· Close to 800,000
children under the age of five are suffering from severe acute malnutrition in
the Lake Chad region, including 450,000 in Nigeria, 247,500 in Niger, 63,000 in
Cameroon and 22,000 in Chad.
· At the same time last
year, 475,000 children suffered from severely acute malnutrition in the region.
· In Nigeria, at total of
5.2 million people are food insecure, and 50,000 are already living in
famine-like conditions.
· At the Oslo conference
for the Lake Chad Basin on 24 February, 14 donors pledged $672 million for
Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, of which $460 million was for 2017. So far,
84 per cent of this has been disbursed.
· In total there is a
need for more than $2.24 billion to meet the urgent humanitarian appeals for
the region in 2017. Of this, more than $1.27 billion or about 57 per cent is
still lacking.
· Tomorrow, The
Oslo Consultative Group on the Prevention and Stabilization in the Lake Chad
region is meeting for the first time in Berlin.
