Millions risk starvation in Nigeria, Lake Chad region: UN
OSLO: More than seven million people risk starvation in Nigeria’s insurgency-hit northeastern region and around Lake Chad, a senior UN official said on Wednesday ahead of a new funding appeal.
Famine has been ongoing since last year in parts of Nigeria where the government is fighting a seven-year long Boko Haram insurgency.
An international donor conference in Oslo on Friday will aim to raise a chunk of the $1.5 billion the United Nations says it needs to address deepening food insecurity in the region this year.
“They are living on the edge, barely getting by on one meal a day,” Toby Lanzer, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel, said.”My biggest concern today is starvation.”
Earlier this week the United Nations said 1.4 million children were at risk of “imminent death” in famines in Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.
Lanzer said he was worried the Boko Haram insurgency would deter farmers from planting their crops after missing the last three planting seasons, and that the number of lives at risk could increase.
He also expressed concerns the coming rainy season could harm vulnerable people.
Lanzer said the humanitarian response needed to go beyond food aid and include seeds, tools and fishing nets.
Lanzer said he hoped a total $500 million will have been pledged by the end of February, including this week’s funding round.