Floods: UN releases additional US$5m support to Nigeria
05 October 2024 |
5:22 am
The United Nations (UN) Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released an additional US$5 million to scale up the flood response efforts and address critical needs in three most affected states in Nigeria including Borno and Bauchi in the North-east, and Sokoto in the North-west.
The United Nations (UN) Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released an additional US$5 million to scale up the flood response efforts and address critical needs in three most affected states in Nigeria including Borno and Bauchi in the North-east, and Sokoto in the North-west.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said the gesture was necessitated by the increasing impact of floods on people’s lives, livelihoods and food security across Nigeria at the peak of the rainy season.
So far, more than 300 people have lost their lives to floods in the country this year. In a communiqué, the agency lamented the many health hazards floods pose to citizens, pointing out that millions were already facing critical food shortages and battling the outbreak of Cholera among many other challenges.
“The announcement follows the increasing impact of floods on people’s lives, livelihoods, and food security across Nigeria at the peak of the rainy season. More than 300 people have lost their lives.
“At least 1.2 million people are affected in 31 states, according to Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA). Thousands of hectares of cropland have been damaged ahead of harvests,” the communiqué noted.
Lending his voice to the humanitarian crisis, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Fall, said floods across Nigeria have created a crisis within a crisis.
“Millions of people were already facing critical levels of food insecurity before the floods because of economic hardships that have made it exceedingly difficult for the most vulnerable to feed themselves and their families. The floods have compounded people’s suffering,” Fall said.
As of mid-September, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimated that crop losses due to floods in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states were equivalent to an amount of food that could feed 1.4 million people for six months.
“Nationwide crop losses could feed 8.5 million people for six months. To mitigate the flood impact, there is a need for extended lean season support and a scale up of emergency agriculture activities, where possible,” FAO said.
According to CERF, the funds will help humanitarian partners reach 280,000 people in Borno, Bauchi and Sokoto states with food, clean water, sanitation and shelter support.
The funds are also expected to help rapidly mobilise resources to bolster access to healthcare, including efforts to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera. The response will include the use of multipurpose cash assistance (MPCA) and cash for work programmes to help affected people earn an income.
“This CERF allocation is a much-needed boost to the joint efforts of humanitarian partners in Nigeria in support of the government-led response.
“However, the CERF funds and the previous allocation from the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF) are insufficient to meet the scale of needs.
“What is required right now is the immediate mobilisation of additional resources by donors, development partners and the private sector as the emergency response transitions to the recovery phase in some affected areas,” the communiqué noted.
Meanwhile, the Borno State Flood Relief Committee (BFRC) has engaged 50 National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) members in the damaged property verification exercise.
According to the committee, the corps members are to familiarise with the verification procedures to ensure success. Declaring the training session for the corps members open on Friday in Maiduguri, the Committee Chairman, Baba Bukar Gujbawu, emphasised the importance of commitment and dedication to the task of overcoming the flood disaster.
His words: “We’re determined to conduct a thorough and professional work as mandated by Governor Babagana Zulum, within the established timeframe of a month.
“I want to urge you to take this assignment very seriously. The corps members were selected based on merit. What we want is credible work; anything short of that will not be tolerated.”
The co-chairman of the committee, Prof. Ibrahim Umara, described the verification exercise as both humanitarian and challenging in overcoming the flood disaster. He advised the trainees to refuse any form of gratification, assuring them that adequate security measures had been put in place to ensure their safety.
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