Over
The Past 12 Months, The Humanitarian Crisis In The Chad Basin Region Has Grown
"In Dramatic Fashion"
The humanitarian crisis triggered by Boko Haram’s “violent
and inhuman campaign” is worsening, with 10.7 million people in need of aid in
northeast Nigeria and parts of Cameroon, Chad and Niger, the U.N. humanitarian
chief said Thursday.
Stephen O’Brien told the U.N. Security Council that although
Boko Haram has lost much of the territory it once controlled as a result of
military campaigns in the region, its raids and suicide bombings targeting
civilians are still causing widespread death and destruction in those four
countries which comprise the Lake Chad Basin.
Over the past 12 months, he said, the crisis has grown “in
dramatic fashion,” with the number of people needing humanitarian help, rising
from about nine million in July.
Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft urged the Security
Council to visit the Lake Chad Basin region in the coming weeks to shine a spotlight
on the depth of the crisis, stressing that it is not only humanitarian but also
about politics, development and “countering terrorism.”
“What started as a protection crisis,” O’Brien said, “has
become also a major food and nutrition crisis — today one of the largest
humanitarian crises in the world.”
He said a year ago, three million people across the Lake
Chad Basin were “severely food insecure,” meaning they had very little to eat
and needed assistance. “Today there are 7.1 million,” despite the response of
the U.N. and its partners, he said.
In addition, some 2.4 million people are displaced,
including 1.4 million children, O’Brien said. And in northeast Nigeria alone
“over 7,000 women and girls have been subjected to Boko Haram-related
violence.”
He urged stepped-up donations to help the millions in need
saying the 2016 U.N. appeal received $238 million — just 49% of what was needed
— and the 2017 appeal will be $1.5 billion, reflecting the deteriorating
situation in the region.
Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Taye-Brook
Zerihoun told the Security Council that the region suffers “from the combined
effects of violent extremism, and a serious humanitarian crisis as well as
human rights abuses and violations by terrorist elements and counter-terrorism
measures.”
Despite “the commendable military efforts by the region
against Boko Haram,” he said the ongoing violence has destroyed lives,
livestock and food stocks and paralyzed local economies. The economic impact is
estimated at about $9 billion in northeast Nigeria alone, he said.
Zerihoun
warned that “a military approach will not bring an end to Boko Haram.”
“Affected countries must simultaneously tackle the
humanitarian consequences as well as the root causes that led to the emergence
of the group,” he said. “Military operations should be followed with
stabilization measures, the restoration of state authority and addressing the
social, economic and political grievances of marginalized communities.”
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