The North-Easter part of Nigeria needs fresh $1 billion to tackle the Boko Haram-induced humanitarian crisis affecting more than six million people in 2021, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said.
It disclosed this on Wednesday noting that a combination of escalating conflict, displacement, and disruption has impacted livelihoods worsened by COVID-19 restrictions resulting in hunger for at least 5.1 million people.
The UN Agency remarked that the figure of displaced persons is the worst outlook in four years.
It said, “Ongoing conflict continues to be the main driver of humanitarian needs in northeast Nigeria, where millions of people have been displaced. Longstanding insecurity and violence, compounded by climate change, and the impact of COVID-19 are increasing the vulnerability of close to nine million people.
“Close to two million people are internally displaced, while millions of people depend on humanitarian partners for basic services, and up to 5.1 million people are facing hunger in the lean season – the worst outlook in four years.
“The humanitarian community and the Government of Nigeria officially launched the north-east Nigeria Humanitarian Response Plan for 2021 earlier today. The plan requests US$1 billion to enable partners to provide critical services to the 6.4 million most vulnerable people – amongst a total of 8.7 million people in need of some form of humanitarian assistance in 2021