UN Agencies and Donors Gather in Oslo for Nigerian Famine
UN aid agencies and donor countries gathered in Oslo Thursday for a two-day meeting to raise emergency aid for millions of people threatened by famine in northeastern Nigeria, a Boko Haram stronghold.
The UN aims to raise up to 1$1.5 billion in commitments throughout 2017 for the Lake Chad region, which comprises northeast Nigeria, northern Cameroon, western Chad and southeast Niger.
One of the poorest regions in the world, it has been ravaged by eight years of violence. Schools, dispensaries and agriculture are in ruins, and people have been forced to flee jihadists on foot without any resources.
Ahmed Shehu, a civil society representative in northeastern Nigeria, spoke about the need for long-term development.
"I say (to) donors here, if we want to tackle the Boko Haram issue, let's also reflect on the underlying issue: poverty," he said."
The second issue we fail to link with Boko Haram is climate change," he said, noting that 90 percent of Lake Chad has dried up in a few decades.
NASA Johnson