The Federal Government disclosed that it will focus on 3 areas aimed at supporting Project Lake Chad (PROLAC) including Regional and National Coordination Platform and Local Capacity Building aimed at reinforcing regional dialogue and data collection and dissemination, institutional capacity building and others.
This was stated by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social DevelopmentSadiya Farouq at a virtual Ministerial World Bank Group Roundtable on the Lake Chad Region held on Monday.
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The Minister added that all the focus areas would be:
- Regional and National Coordination Platform and Local Capacity Building aimed at reinforcing regional dialogue and data collection and dissemination.
- Institutional capacity building and knowledge sharing, as well as Agriculture Investments and Value-Chain Development, aimed at promoting public productive investments.
- Value-chain development, citizen engagement and community participation activities in project areas.
Umar Farouq added that the Ministry will also support the World Bank through the provision of a coordination structure for the targeted management of vulnerabilities through the agencies and programmes under its supervision.
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“The Lake Chad Region faces a combination of multidimensional risk factors which deepen vulnerabilities. From 2014, Boko Haram’s violent activities took on a transnational approach, spreading its terrorist attacks from Nigeria to Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. This has created a humanitarian crisis, increasing the number of internally displaced persons and refugees within the Lake Chad Region,” she said.
While the drivers of fragility and obstacles to growth existed before the insurgency, the ongoing conflict has compounded the region’s difficulties. The Boko Haram regional conflict has triggered an acute humanitarian situation with devastating social and economic impact on the population.
Direct efforts of the Ministry through the National Humanitarian Coordination Committee (amongst other structures and critical interventions) is the provision of an enabling environment to support peace enforcement.
What you should know
Recall that Nairametrics reported last month that President Muhammadu Buhari stated that Nigeria is engaging with relevant stakeholders on recharging Lake Chad as it is important that there be water transfer to the Lake from the Congo Basin.
