The United Nations, through a new fund set up to tackle the crisis-hit northeast, has allocated over $10.5m to help thousands of women, children and men in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance.

This was part of the money raised from the worldwide appeal for Nigeria this year for $1.05bn to help millions of people displaced by Boko Haram.

It is the fourth largest single-country appeal globally, says a statement on Monday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Abuja.

The Nigeria Humanitarian Fund was launched during the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region in February 2017 and has so far received $25 million in contributions and pledges from different countries.

“This crisis has caused an untold loss of life and liberty across the north-east of Nigeria and civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict,” Edward Kallon, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, said in the statement.

“These funds will go towards addressing some of the key priority areas in the humanitarian response that have not yet been financially supported, including the provision of safe drinking water, emergency shelter and health services to those in need.”

According to the statement, specifically, the $10.5 million will fund about 15 different projects, which were selected by the various sectors of the humanitarian response and approved by the NHF Advisory Board.

It said the projects target and address the needs of the most vulnerable people in locations where access is sporadic and where flooding, disease outbreaks and new displacements continue to take place such as Monguno, Mafa, Pulka and Rann (in Borno State), and Michika (in Adamawa State).

The statement added that the funds will also support efforts to enhance the protection of civilians in vulnerable communities and those trapped in conflict areas.

The humanitarian crisis in northeast and the Lake Chad region is one of the most severe in the world today, with 8.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in the three worst-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe alone.