| Post date | Tuesday, February 28, 2017 - 09:57 |
Highlights
- Pledges of US$458 million for 2017 and $214 million for 2018 and beyond announced by 14 donors
- The conference gave voice to people affected by the conflict and crisis
- Agreement to address longer-term development needs and seek durable solutions to crises
Some 170 representatives from 40 countries, UN, regional organisations and civil society organisations gathered at the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region today. The conference was co-hosted by Norway, Nigeria, Germany and the UN and followed a civil society meeting with large participation from local organisations working in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
One of the world’s largest humanitarian crises is currently unfolding in the Lake Chad region with 17 million people living in the most affected areas. Nearly 11 million people urgently need humanitarian assistance. At the conference, 14 donors pledged $458 million for relief in 2017 and an additional $214 million was announced for 2018 and beyond. Pledges were announced by the European Commission, Norway, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Italy, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Republic of Korea.
Humanitarian partners agreed to further scale up their response to reach the most vulnerable groups threatened by famine, including children with severe acute malnutrition. Special attention was given to the protection needs of women, children and youth, as well as the need for longer-term support and durable solutions for the displaced populations.
At the conference, UN Humanitarian Chief O'Brien also launched the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund to support life-saving operations in the North-East. "This fund will enable donors to pool their contributions to deliver a more effective, collective and immediate response and I have encouraged all donors to support this initiative", ERC O'Brien said. "I am deeply grateful to those who have already so committed. What lies behind this is that catastrophes such as a famine can be averted now if we step up in a timely, sufficiently advanced manner."