From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Peace appears imminent in the North East region as the Federal Government and the United Nations organised a 2-day Humanitarian Country Team Retreat with the aim at seeking lasting solutions.
The Government, through the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to provide needed humanitarian assistance to the vulnerable across the country as the world recovers from the COVID-19 effect.
Umar Farouq thanked the Humanitarian Country Team under the leadership of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Edward Kallon, for being a worthy and reliable partner at the forefront of supporting the government in rendering assistance to vulnerable Nigerians.
She also revealed government’s medium and long term plans to tackle its humanitarian needs.
In a statement yesterday, by her Special Adviser on Media, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, she said: “The Government is scaling up efforts to provide durable solutions for the return, reintegration and resettlement of affected communities.
“As part of the commitment of the Federal Government to coherently coordinate humanitarian assistance in the country, it has developed a National Humanitarian Development Peace Framework (NHDPF) through the National Humanitarian Coordination Committee (NHCC).
“This framework seeks to ensure peace, stability and resilience in Nigeria, by promoting home-grown approaches to proactively address critical humanitarian and development challenges.”
The minister argued that for Nigeria to wriggle out of crisis, there must be collaboration from all relevant stakeholders, continuous interaction and cooperation among the Humanitarian Country Team and the Federal Government.
This, she said, will enhance sustainable peace and simultaneously provide development opportunities especially in conflict affected areas in the country.
“Furthermore, as part of the commitment of the Federal Government to coherently coordinate humanitarian assistance in the Country, it has developed a National Humanitarian Development Peace Framework (NHDPF) through the National Humanitarian Coordination Committee (NHCC).
“This framework seeks to ensure peace, stability and resilience in Nigeria, by promoting home-grown approaches to proactively address critical humanitarian and development challenges,” She added.
She maintained that Nigeria remains a top priority area for humanitarian support and assistance, given the complex nature of the challenges faced by the country as she urged United Nations to cooperate with all relevant national and state stakeholders to strengthen national capacity.
Umar Farouq said that will in no small way help in the fight against insurgency and provide efficient humanitarian service delivery to the most affected populations.
Earlier, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Edward Kallon, described the retreat as very timely as the block of the Humanitarian Programme Cycle was about to restart.
Kallon noted that Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in the North East remain one of the largest crises areas in the world today with thousands killed and displaced.
“The conflict is in its 12th year and over 37,000 people have been killed. At the peak of the crisis, over 2.2 million people were displaced in the BAY States and another 303,963 Nigerian refugees in neighbouring countries in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
“The situation is also very dynamic and 1.9 million people remain internally displaced in the worst affected States and an estimated 1.6 million people that have returned to relatively safe areas.
“We are currently facing unprecedented challenges with increasing levels of violence, not just in the north-east but also elsewhere…”