THE World Bank has so far contributed a total of $376 million for the rehabilitation of Boko Haram-ravaged communities in the Northeastern region of Nigeria through its Multi-Sectoral Crisis Recovery Project (MCRP).
This was disclosed in a report on the World Bank website, titled ‘Strengthening Recovery and Peace Building in North-East Nigeria’.
The MCRP was established in 2017, in response to the escalation of the Boko Haram crisis in the North-East, with the aim of rehabilitating and improving critical service delivery infrastructure, and enhancing livelihood opportunities, in conflict-affected and displaced communities in the region.
A Recovery and Peacebuilding Assessment (RPBA) conducted by the World Bank and the Federal Government in the region in 2016 had estimated multi-sectoral recovery and resilience building needs at nearly $6.7 billion.
Findings from the RPBA led to the creation of the North-East Development Commission by the Federal Government, and the establishment of the Multi-Sectoral Crisis Recovery Project (MCRP) by the World Bank.
The report, dated November 10, noted that the World Bank, through the International Development Association (IDA) “initially contributed $200 million in 2017 for the MCRP to support efforts in North-East Nigeria. In May 2020, additional financing of $176 million was approved, bringing the total project amount to $376 million”.
The report added that the MCRP supports the Federal Government’s response to the acute humanitarian and forced-displacement crisis in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
“Its approach includes: implementing a surge of high-impact, early recovery interventions (i.e. distribution of non-food items, agricultural and non-agricultural inputs) to address urgent needs and rebuild livelihoods while humanitarian operations continue; and transitioning into medium-term recovery and resilience building through investments in social cohesion, livelihoods, infrastructure and public services,” the report added.
The additional $176 million, injected in the MCRP in May 2020, is meant to bring Nigeria into the regional program supported in parallel by the New Lake Chad Region Recovery and Development Project.
It will also focus on job creation and labor-intensive works programs, and provide service delivery beyond infrastructure rehabilitation and improvement, with special emphasis on health and education service provision activities.
The additional financing would also pay greater attention to climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts.
Results achieved in the implementation of the MCRP between 2017 and 2020, according to the report, include distribution of non-food items, agricultural and non-agricultural kits and small ruminants to over 42,000 households, of which 51.4 percent are led by women, in line with deliberate efforts to prioritize and target female beneficiaries by the states.
Also, 17 peace groups have been formed, of which 201 households have participated in a series of capacity building training in different aspects of crisis management and recovery skills.
Psychosocial support services interventions have reached 13,500 households, while 687 infrastructure rehabilitation projects have been initiated, of which 136 are in various stages of implementation and 551 projects have been completed. The projects include 295 hand-pump boreholes, 121 solar-powered boreholes, 76 Ventilated Improved Pit latrines, 31 public buildings, 12 schools and 15 hospitals.
The construction of 178 kilometers (km) of roads and the reconstruction of three bridges are in various stages of implementation in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
In the same vein, over 105,000 beneficiaries, of which 49 percent are women, have gained access to rehabilitated roads, hospitals, schools, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities and public buildings.
The World Bank report added that through the MCRP, “the North-East Development Commission has also developed a sophisticated security information system and protocols for the benefit of the constituent North-East states to further identify hotspot areas where activities are being implemented, and to protect those who are working on project sites”.
The report noted that about 20,000 people have been killed, while 2.2 million were displaced, as a result of the Boko Haram crisis.
“Violent activities of Boko Haram and the armed conflict since 2009 have deeply affected North-East Nigeria and the lives of 15 million people across the region. Over 20,000 people were killed and 2.2 million were forcibly displaced.
“The North-East states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe host 70 percent of those displaced, with regional spillovers around the Lake Chad. Affected communities have experienced severe damage to their social fabric, extensive destruction of infrastructure, and significant socio-economic basic needs that remain largely unmet,” the report said.