Seven to eight children are at the risk of dying every hour and 184 children every day from acute malnutrition the United Nations said on Monday.
Munir Safieldin, acting United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Coordinator, who said this, noted that: “the humanitarian crisis in north-east Nigeria is massive and alarming: about 15 million people in North-East Nigeria are affected by the violence instigated by Boko Haram, with about seven million in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.”
The acting Humanitarian Coordinator said that unless humanitarian response assistance to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) is scaled up, that fatalities are bound to occur.
Safieldin disclosed this when the UN announced a release of US$13 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to assist an estimated 250,000 people in areas of North East Nigeria.
The CERF funds is meant to support the provision of food, cash for food purchase, special child nutritional supplements, protection and health services to the most vulnerable people in the areas that have been liberated from Boko Haram terrorists control.
Stephen O’Brien, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who made the announcement, noted that “the destruction of crops and looting of livestock have left many people unable to support their families.
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According to him, a significant number of people suffered terrible abuses in the course of the Boko Haram terrorist acts, and added that the CERF funds will enable humanitarian partners to provide critical psychosocial support and protection services to the people.
“More than 50,000 people need seeds and tools for the upcoming planting season and CERF funding will help them to rebuild their livelihoods” he said.
According to him “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.”
CERF is a pooled fund, where donors contribute to supports rapid humanitarian response and to provide live-saving assistance in crises situations.
Since 2015, the fund has supported life-saving assistance in response to Boko Haram-related violence with more than $58 million.
The total Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria is estimated at about $279 million after it was revised upwards by $51 million in June.
However, it is only about 22 per cent funded.
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