The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) has said its not
deterred due to attack on Friday of its humanitarian convoy in the northeast
Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.
Chief of Communications, at UNICEF Nigeria, Doune Porter, said aïd has continued
to assist millions of conflict-affected children in northeast Nigeria, despite the
attack on a humanitarian convoy.
As a result of the attack, in which one UNICEF staff member was
injured, travel by UN staff to high risk areas has been temporarily suspended.
“We are working at full strength in the Borno state capital
Maiduguri,” stressed UNICEF Nigeria Representative Jean Gough. “We continue to
call for increased efforts to reach people in desperate need across the state.
We cannot let this heartless attack divert any of us from reaching the more
than two million people who are in dire need of immediate humanitarian
assistance.”
UNICEF has called on donors and humanitarian organizations to
scale-up the response to the emerging disaster in Borno state, which is the
most affected by the conflict with Boko Haram.
Before the attack, security conditions had been improving in
several areas.
“Our teams were finding people living on the brink of disaster,”
said Jean Gough, “The violence has disrupted farming and markets, destroyed
food stocks, and damaged or destroyed health and water facilities. We
absolutely have to reach more of these communities.”
UNICEF estimates that 244,000 children will suffer from severe
acute malnutrition this year in Borno state alone and if they are not reached
with treatment, one in five of them will die.
UNICEF has provided two million people with health services and
treated 56,000 children for malnutrition in the three conflict-affected states
of northeast Nigeria. A quarter of a million people have improved access to
clean water, and over 200,000 children have been able to go back to school.
Despite the temporary suspension of travel to high risk areas,
UNICEF plans to scale-up its response in Borno state substantially. At the
beginning of the year, UNICEF appealed for US$55 million for its emergency
work, of which US$23 million has so far been received.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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