UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) 2022 for Nigerians – Grants up to $15m
The United Nations has allocated $15 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to urgently support the much needed humanitarian assistance and response in north-east Nigeria.
The North-east region of the country for over 12 years has suffered the brunt of violence and insecurity, as over 2.2 million people displaced from their homes and villages ravaged by bandits and terrorist groups.
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Martins Griffiths, on Thursday, allocated the $15 million emergency survival fund to the humanitarian response in Nigeria as part of a $100 million, the UN has set aside to fight hunger in Africa and the Middle East.
In the press statement by the UN, the country’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (a.i) for Nigeria, Mr. Matthias Schmale on Thursday, said that the $15 million CERF allocation will enable humanitarian bodies to improve and strengthen timely, coordinated access to appropriate food and cash aid to the most vulnerable in crisis-affected areas.
“The food security and nutrition situation is deteriorating, with more and more families pushed towards vulnerability, and forced to resort to negative coping mechanisms including child labour and early marriage.
“As desperation pushes extremely vulnerable people to the edge, food and nutrition assistance is critical for their survival. The $15 million CERF allocation comes right on time to respond to the most urgent needs of people at extreme risk as we appeal to Member States to provide the resources we urgently need,” Schmale said.
The UN official also hailed the humanitarian agencies and donors for working to avert food insecurity in North-east Nigeria.
“Thanks to the support of humanitarian agencies and donors, a catastrophic food insecurity was averted in 2021. However, danger looms again for the people of north-east Nigeria if efforts are not sustained and the urgently needed resources are not made available, enabling to take immediate action for the people of north-east Nigeria,” Schmale added.
According to the Cadre Harmonisé food and nutrition analysis published in March 2022, about 600,000 people in the region are projected to be in an emergency situation, not knowing where their next meal will come from.
The data projects that about 4.1 million people in the crisis-affected states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, will face sever food insecurity during the peak of the June to August 2022 lean season.
This is a 19 per cent increase in the number of people in need of food security assistance, since the last analysis was carried out in October last year. This statisi includes an alarming 28 per cent increase in the number of people in the emergency category.
The United Nations further said that Malnutrition among children continues to be increasingly threatening, and $351 million is urgently needed by May to deliver life-saving food security and nutrition assistance to the most affected people.
In total, the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria is seeking $1.1 billion to support 5.5 million people, the agency said.
To ameliorate the crisis the UN had introduced CERF, which is one of the fastest and most efficient mechanisms for providing emergency funding to people in need, through rapid allocations to new and deteriorating crises or where there’s shortage of funds.
“The fund pools contributions from a range of donors, and resources are allocated on strict life-saving criteria to help the most vulnerable.
“Over the past six months, CERF has allocated more than $170 million to address rising food insecurity in several countries, including those that will receive the new funding,” UN added.
