Boko Haram: UN releases $58m to assist IDPs

The United Nations said $58 million was released to assist 2.4 million internally displaced people in the Boko Haram insurgency.

An official in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Abuja, Ms Kate Pond, in a statement said the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated the amount from March 2015 to February 4, 2016.

“Since 2015, the Emergency Relief Coordinator has released more than 58 million U.S. dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for life-saving assistance in response to Boko Haram-related violence.”

According to the UN, the sum of $27.2 million was also allocated in March 2015 to assist more than 1.6 million internally displaced persons, refugees and host communities from Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria.

“An additional $31 million was provided in late 2015 and early 2016 for lives-saving humanitarian response for more than 700,000 affected people in the Lake Chad Basin region.”

It also noted that with the support of CERF’s rapid response funds, humanitarian partners have been providing assistance and protection for most of the vulnerable people.

“The sum of $13.5 million was provided to assist 350,000 displaced persons who fled from border areas and vulnerable host communities in Niger.”

The UN said $20 million was spent to assist over 1.6 million victims and vulnerable people in host communities in Nigeria.

The statement also explained that CERF was one of the fastest and most effective ways to support rapid humanitarian response for people affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts.