ABUJA—THE government of Japan has
extended a grant of $4.5 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF,
for the provision of life-saving emergency work to assist people affected and
displaced by the conflict in North East of Nigeria. The grant will cover
assistance in the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities;
health, nutrition and child protection services and education. It will also
focus primarily on assistance for children, with special attention given to
those trying to return to where they lived before they were forced to flee
because of the violence.
The seven years of conflict in North eastern part of
Nigeria, especially in the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, have caused
massive human suffering, with children and women bearing the brunt of the
difficulties. The conflict triggered major population movements, with most
recent estimates of people displaced by the conflict in the four most affected
states put at over 1.7 million, more than half of who are children. In a
statement UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Jean Gough, said: “The people of
Japan are strong supporters of UNICEF’s work to help children and women. This
generous grant will help to make a tangible difference in the lives of children
who have suffered so much.
It will help them to recover physically and
psychologically so that they can be children, can go to school and have a
brighter future.” With a similar grant last year from the government of Japan,
UNICEF and its partners were able to boost primary health care services for
people affected by the conflict in more than 100 health facilities in Borno,
Adamawa and Yobe states. Funding from Japan provided more than 65,000 people
with clean water and more than 25,000 people with access to safe sanitation.
Education was improved through creating temporary learning spaces for children
in camps for the displaced and malnourished children were provided with
life-saving treatment. Special support had been given to children who had been
separated from their families by the conflict, even as traumatised children had
been given psychosocial support. Also, Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of Japan to Nigeria, Sadanobu Kusaoke, said: “The government of
Japan believes that primary education, health and nutrition are some of the
basic rights of every child anywhere in the world and in this regard, Japan has
and will continue to make efforts to ensure that no child is denied these basic
rights, no matter the situation,”
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