Lake Chad Basin: US offers additional FCFA 16 bln

Visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration made the announcement in a press briefing in Yaounde.

United States (US) Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, Anne Richard, has announced an additional US contribution to the humanitarian crises in the Lake Chad Basin to the tune of 27 million US dollars (about FCFA 16 billion) to support victims of the Boko Haram violence across the region.

The visiting Assistant Secretary of State made the revelation on July 13 in Yaounde during a press briefing attended by the UN Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, Toby Lanzer and the US Ambassador to Cameroon, Michael Stephen Hoza.

Anne Richard who visited the Minawao refugee camp in the Far North Region said her trip to Cameroon and Chad was to highlight the devastating impact of the Boko Haram violence and strengthen international cooperation to ease the plight of the refugees and internally displaced persons in Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.

More than 9 million people are affected by the Boko Haram barbarism in the Lake Chad Basin region with food and health needs escalating.

The humanitarian crises is said to be enormous with already 155,000 refugees and 2.6 internationally displaced persons. Despite the worsening situation, the US official regretted that the crises is one of the least funded and her visit to the area is thus to whip up international support.

The FCFA 16 billion additional US support will bolster efforts of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to provide Nigerian refugees with basic necessities such as access clean water, sanitation facilities, household items and shelter.

Both Anne Richard and Toby Lanzer praised Cameroon’s generosity and efforts towards assisting the refugees. Toby pointed out that the Nigerian refugees in the Far North Region can only return home when it is safe. He announced a 221 million dollars 90-day humanitarian emergency response targeting the population of the Lake Chad Basin.