Britain pledges £32m to help resettle and rehabilitate Boko Haram victims in the northeast

BRITAIN has pledged to assist Nigeria's ongoing war against terrorism with a sum of £32m that will be used to help deliver humanitarian assistance and infrastructural redevelopment to victims of the Boko Haram crisis over the next three years.

 

Following the Boko Haram insurgency which has raged across northeast Nigeria over recent years, the country has become the internally displaced persons (IDP) capital of the world with 2.5m refugees. Maiduguri, the Borno State capital alone, is host to 1.7m IDPs, while there are nearly 200,000 in camps scattered around the state.

 

To help resettle them, the World Bank has earmarked a sum of $800m to support the rehabilitation of refugees and the rebuilding of infrastructure across northeast Nigeria. Nick Hurd, Britain's minister for international development, said the UK government in stepping in to assist and its gesture would help provide relief for over 7m people facing increased humanitarian devastation as a result of the conflict.

 

Mr Hurd added: “The UK is committed to continuing to help Nigeria to provide humanitarian assistance and protection for people affected by the conflict in north eastern Nigeria. Funds, which would be channelled through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations, would be used to provide support for critical life-saving assistance."

 

Welcoming Nigeria’s efforts to support the affected population, Mr Hurd said the UK government was looking forwards to the continued collaboration with all partners to strengthen the effort to reach the most vulnerable people in difficult areas. He added that apart from support for nutrition, food security, water and sanitation as well as protection of civilians affected by the conflict, technical expertise would also be made available to the Nigerian government to support the humanitarian response to the crisis.

 

According to Mr Hurd, the situation required a sustained, large-scale government-led response to meet people’s basic needs and to help them rebuild their lives once security conditions allow them to return home. He said the new funding is in addition to more than £8.2m 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 the loss of livelihoods.

 

In addition, the minister announced a substantial increase of £16.7m to boost Nigeria’s solar energy programme. He added that the additional funding is in support of a UK-sponsored Solar Nigeria Programme for which £37.1m has already been approved since 2013 to promote access to household energy in Nigeria.