The United Nations’ Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released $5 million to assist flood relief efforts in Nigeria’s most affected states: Borno, Bauchi, and Sokoto.
The announcement, made on Wednesday night in a statement made available to journalists, addresses urgent needs amid escalating impacts from flooding during the peak rainy season.
According to Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), floods have claimed over 300 lives and affected at least 1.2 million people across 31 states.
“Floods across Nigeria have created a crisis within a crisis,” said Mohamed Malick Fall, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator. “Millions of people were already facing critical levels of food insecurity before the floods because of economic hardships that have made it exceedingly difficult for the most vulnerable to feed themselves and their families. The floods have compounded people’s suffering.”
The allocated funds aim to provide food, clean water, sanitation, and shelter to 280,000 persons in the three states as well as to bolster healthcare access, particularly to prevent waterborne diseases like cholera.
According to the statement, the response will include the use of multipurpose cash assistance (MPCA) and cash for work programmes to help affected people earn an income.
It further stated that funding will enhance protection services, including support to women and girls and services for gender-based violence (GBV), as well as support to people living with disabilities.
“This CERF allocation is a much-needed boost to the joint efforts of humanitarian partners in Nigeria in support of the Government-led response. However, the CERF funds and the previous allocation from the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF) are insufficient to meet the scale of needs. What is required right now is the immediate mobilisation of additional resources by donors, development partners and the private sector as the emergency response transitions to the recovery phase in some affected areas.”
