The European Union (EU) has pledged €102.5 million (about N4.72 billion) humanitarian aid to the four countries in the Lake Chad region affected by conflict.
A statement released, yesterday, in Niamey, Republic of Niger, disclosed: “The EU made the pledges at our third high-level conference on the Lake Chad region.”
According to the statement, the conference is a critical international political forum convened to facilitate regional, cross-border consensus around the required adjustments.
It explained that intervention adjustments were to deal with the prevailing multi-faceted challenges in the conflict-affected countries comprising Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.
On the location of region, the statement added: “The member-countries in the region are located far west of Chad and the North East of Nigeria. They also extend to Niger and Cameroun.
“The funding will help vulnerable communities in the four countries in view of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the region.”
It explained that the humanitarian aid would address violence in the four countries.
According to the affected countries, their civilian population is increasingly becoming the victim of targeted attacks.
Besides, the increasing attacks have resulted in large-scale displacement of persons, disruption of livelihoods, and the lack of access to basic services.
“The EU funding is specifically responding to the most acute food needs of households and communities affected by conflict,” the statement noted, adding that the aid was treating Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) among under-five children.
The Guardian gathered that the EU funding could strengthen disaster preparedness, including the warning systems and climate resilience actions in the four countries.
EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, in the statement, disclosed that over 24 million people in the region need humanitarian aid, which increased by 9.5 per cent over that of 2022.
He said: “This funding will provide the much-needed support to vulnerable communities impacted by conflict, displacement and increasing food insecurity.
“As the region faces unprecedented food crisis, we will continue to monitor the situation and react with additional funding, if necessary.”
He broke down the funding as follows: “The €102.5 million are to be disbursed in 2023 to Nigeria (€34 million), Niger (€25 million), Chad (€26.5 million) and Cameroon (€17 million).
The funding is part of the €181.5 million allocated this year for the Lake Chad Basin, the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Sahel, as announced last week.
In 2022, the EU provided about €189.5 million to support humanitarian interventions in the four countries in the region.
