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Nigerian gov't vows to tackle humanitarian challenges in northeast

Xinhua, February 2, 2017 Adjust font size:

Nigeria on Wednesday reiterated its commitment to address the humanitarian challenges in the northeast region and support any initiative by the international community in that direction.

Udoma Udo Udoma, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, gave the assurance in Abuja, the nation's capital city when the ambassadors of Norway and Germany, Jens-Petter Kjemprud and Bernhard Schlagheck respectively, briefed him on the forthcoming International Donor Conference.

The conference is scheduled for Feb. 24 in Oslo, the capital of Norway.

The conference seeks to draw attention of the international community to the fallout inflicted by the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad region.

It also aims to gain more international support for the resultant humanitarian challenges and to secure greater political commitment from governments of the region to improve the situation.

Udoma expressed the country's appreciation for the strong support received from Norway and Germany in the past.

On her part, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, also said that the government was willing to tackle the challenges of the region.

Ahmed emphasized that government had constituted a Presidential Committee to monitor effective implementation of the various initiatives.

According to her, the challenges have rendered youths of the region susceptible to easy drafting into insurgency.

Earlier, Kjemprud said it became necessary to engage the international community to support and fund the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the region.

Norway is organizing the conference, jointly with Nigeria and Germany, in collaboration with the UN.

Foreign ministers from the region, representatives of the African Union and the European Union, representatives of donor countries and the heads of UN organizations are expected at the conference.

The conference is expected to discuss food security; humanitarian protection and access to aid as well as education in situations of crisis and conflict. Endit