Chinese envoy calls for greater humanitarian access to Lake Chad Basin

There must be a greater humanitarian access to the region of Lake Chad Basin to mitigate the humanitarian crisis facing the populations, said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, on Wednesday.

Wu told the Security Council that the international community should help countries of the region to address root causes of the conflict and increase financial assistance to them so that they can build capacities to promote economic and social development.

Earlier, UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien told the 15-nation council that violence and brutality perpetrated by Boko Haram is resulting in massive forced displacement, human rights violations, and severe disruptions to livelihoods in the Lake Chad Basin region.

Across the region, the UN estimates, over nine million people in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon need humanitarian assistance, according to O'Brien.

"Children are particularly vulnerable," he noted, saying that 1.7 million children have been displaced in the region and they risk being forcibly recruited by Boko Harm to take part in violence.

The Nigeria-based extremist group Boko Haram seeks to impose strict Islamic law in northern Nigeria. Its insurgency has killed tens of thousands of people and has affected Nigeria's neighboring countries in the region.

Nigeria is heading up a multinational joint task force along with Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin to fight Boko Haram terrorists and bring back stability to the region. Enditem