Following the humanitarian crises in the North Eastern part of the country, the United Kingdom, UK, government has announced a donation of £32m to help deliver basic life-saving assistance and protection to some of the estimated 7 million people affected in the area.
In a statement signed by the Press Officer to the British High Commission, Joe Abuku in Abuja and made available to DAILY POST on Friday, the UK’s Minister of International Development, Nick Hurd said the funds will be channelled through the United Nations, UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, and other humanitarian organisations.
According to Hurd, the funds will be used to provide support for critical life-saving areas including nutrition, food security, water and sanitation, and protection of civilians affected by the conflict, adding that technical expertise will also be made available to Nigerian Government so as to support the humanitarian response.
Hurd said, “The UK is committed to continuing to help Nigeria to provide humanitarian assistance and protection for people affected by the conflict in north east Nigeria. We welcome Nigeria’s efforts to support the affected population. We look forward to continuing to work with all partners to strengthen the humanitarian effort to reach the most vulnerable, many of whom are in areas that are difficult to access.”
Noting that the humanitarian needs in north eastern part of Nigeria are enormous and still growing, Hurd maintained that, “there is need for a sustained, large-scale Government-led response to meet people’s basic needs and to help them to rebuild their lives once security conditions allow them to return to their places of origin.”
The Minister added, “the new funding is in addition to more than £8.2 million provided by the UK since 2014 to help respond to the life-saving humanitarian needs of people affected by the conflict though violence, displacement, and loss of livelihoods.
Hurd also announced an additional £16.7 million the UK is donating to the Nigeria’s rapidly growing solar energy market which is in support of a UK sponsored Solar-Nigeria Programme that was approved in September 2013 with a budget of £37.1 million.
He said, “The programme has already supported access to household energy for more than 130,000 people since it was launched in 2014.
“It has also supported improved healthcare and education for about 185,000 people in Lagos, and earlier this week it won the award for Outstanding international development project – infrastructure at the 2016 British Expertise International Awards.”
“The purpose of this project is to strengthen the market for solar photovoltics (PV) generated in Nigeria, and in doing so improve the lives of poor Nigerians and reduce carbon emissions. It achieves this purpose by targeting three inter-related sets of challenges.
“The first is very low levels of household energy access, the second is climate change, and the third is poor outcomes in health and education, in particular in the north of the country, due to poor access to energy. Better outcomes can be achieved in each area through scaling of markets for solar PV.
“The UK’s overall £222 million / year programme in Nigeria improves health and education systems, addresses malnutrition, improves governance, removes the constraints to growth and helps Nigeria better target its own resources. Over 60% of DFID Nigeria’s programme is targeted at northern Nigeria where the needs are greatest.”
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