Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The United Nations (UN) has announced a $22.4 million (about N9 billion) funding for vulnerable persons affected by COVID-19 and other humanitarian crisis in the North East.
The UN in a statement, yesterday, said the funding was provided under the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF) to procure essential protective equipment for health workers in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states battling COVID-19 amid a decade of Boko Haram attacks.
“The $22.4 million funding allocation for 2020 will help address the increases vulnerability of people affected by both the COVID-19 pandemic and existing humanitarian crisis,” said the UN humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon.
He explained that the NHF had proved to be a rapid funding tool to enable actors adapt to “fast-changing humanitarian challenges in the three states.”
“The United Nations and humanitarian partners estimate that 7.9 million people were already in dire need of humanitarian assistance this year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kallon said.
He said the number may increase as the effects of the pandemic fuel humanitarian needs. About three million people have been displaced in the over a decade of Boko Haram violence in the North East.