By Chioma Umeha
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
today welcomed a US $3.5 million contribution from the Government of Japan to
provide desperately needed food assistance to tens of thousands of internally
displaced people in Northeast Nigeria.
The funding allows WFP to deliver food to more
than 160,000 people in Borno and Yobe States, where the Boko Haram insurgency
has left many people severely food insecure, and experts warn of a credible
risk of famine in some places.
“We commend the Government and people of Japan for
their continued contributions to WFP’s operations in Northeast Nigeria,” said
Ronald Sibanda, WFP Country Director and Representative ad interim in Nigeria.
“This generous contribution from Japan will help WFP continue scaling up its
response to reach more families in the region with food and nutrition support.”
Currently, some 4.7 million people are in dire
need of food assistance in the three most conflict-affected states – Borno,
Yobe and Adamawa – a figure that is expected to rise to 5.1 million by June.
“This new assistance is part of Japan’s pledge
made at the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Northeast Nigeria and Lake Chad
Region held between 23-24 February 2017 for humanitarian assistance in the
region, and newly additional funding from the Emergency Grant Aid as a swift
response to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s call for
emergency humanitarian support,” said Sadanobu Kusaoke, Ambassador of Japan to
Nigeria.
“The government of Japan is committed to ensure
that millions of people in dire need of food in northeast Nigeria do not go
hungry,” he added. “It is expected that this funding will, in the interim,
assuage the suffering of people in the affected states who are in a near-famine
situation.”
For four consecutive months, WFP has reached more
one million vulnerable in northeastern Nigeria with cash-based transfers, food
distributions and nutritional assistance targeting children under five, along
with pregnant and nursing women. Indeed, WFP’s assistance increased in March to
reach nearly 1.2 million beneficiaries, with plans to gradually scale up to
reach 1.8 million people monthly during the coming lean season.
