THE government of Germany says it is stepping up its humanitarian assistance in North-East Nigeria by providing additional financial support of 26 million Euros to the country.
A statement issued by the German Embassy in Nigeria on Monday stated that Germany continues to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa aiming to support the Nigerian Government with a view to protecting the most vulnerable groups and meeting the humanitarian needs.
Building on existing programmes and cooperation, the statement said Germany is providing additional funding to the UN World Food Programme to the tune of over 8 million Euros, the International Committee of the Red Cross, over 7 million Euros, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization with over 5million Euros, Caritas International with over 3.5 million Euros and the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund with over 2.5 million Euros.
Commenting on the need for multilateral cooperation and coordination, Heiko Maas, German Foreign Minister stated: “The logic of the COVID-19 pandemic tells us that we either prevail over the virus worldwide or not at all.”
“And our success will be determined not with us, but among the poorest of the poor.”
In the UN Security Council, of which Germany is currently a member, as well as in other UN bodies, Germany is pressing for UN organizations to play a leading role at global level.
According to the United Nations the humanitarian crisis in North-East Nigeria after more than a decade of armed conflict is affecting the lives and livelihood of some 7.9 million people.
The threat of the COVID-19 pandemic in the states affected by the conflict is regarded high considering that around 35 per cent of health facilities have been destroyed or partially damaged due to the conflict.
In 2019 Germany was the third biggest bilateral donor of humanitarian assistance to Nigeria, enabling life-saving humanitarian assistance in the Lake Chad Region amounting to 67.5 million Euros.
The statement stated further that Germany is extensively engaged within the European Union (EU) and
Tackling the COVID-19 crisis in Africa will be a key issue during Germany’s EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2020.
Samad Uthman is a multimedia journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. He tweets @sarmerdk2 and can be shot through [email protected]