Nigeria: UN Emergency Fund Allocates $3.5 Million For Humanitarain Operations In The Northeast

(Abuja, 31 October 2014) – United Nations humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, has allocated US$3.5 million (equivalent to 580 million Nigerian Naira) from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for humanitarian operations in Nigeria’s northeast.

According to the most recent assessment by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), more than 740,000 people have been displaced by violence between Boko Haram insurgents and security forces in Nigeria since January 2014. The majority of these people have sought refuge within host communities where they face increasingly squalid health and sanitation conditions.

“The Humanitarian Country Team prioritized CERF funds to respond to protection, health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) needs of displaced people and host communities of North East Nigeria. The interventions will be implemented in Yobe and Borno States, which are currently bearing the brunt of the conflict in the region,” said Daouda Toure, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria.

The CERF funds will cover components of the Nigeria Strategic Response Plan (SRP) for 2014 that have not attracted adequate funding, including $808,893 for health, $1.3 Million for WASH and $1,437,815 for protection. Of the $93.4 million requested through the Nigeria SRP, only 13 per cent has been received so far.

This grant is part of a $75 million allocation from the second of two annual rounds of allocations from the CERF Underfunded Emergencies window which this year aimed to boost relief work in two of the world’s most neglected regions: the West African Sahel and the Horn of Africa.

This latest allocation brings total CERF funding for Nigeria in 2014 to $5 million. In September, CERF helped aid agencies in Nigeria respond to the Ebola crisis with $1.5 million.

The CERF pools donor contribution in a single fund so that money is available to start or continue urgent relief work. Since 2006, CERF has allocated more than US$14.7 million to Nigeria as part of the response to various crises. These resources have helped save lives and strengthen the response capacity of the humanitarian community.

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