Close to 800,000 children under the age of five years are severely malnourished in the Lake Chad region, and a lack of funding continues to put their lives at risk, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland has warned.
Around six months after world leaders met to commit support to the crisis in the Lake Chad region, 57 per cent of the US$2.2 billion needed to meet the most basic humanitarian needs in 2017 is still lacking.
Donor countries have delivered most of the $460 million promised at the Oslo conference for 2017, but the pledges just did not match the actual needs.
“The donations from the Oslo conference have been crucial, but we are not able to avert a massive loss of lives without large additional funding for our humanitarian operations in the conflict-ridden areas,” Egeland said.
The countries affected include Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad.
Islamists militant group Boko Haram has waged a near-decade insurgency in West Africa, killing tens of thousands and displacing more than two million people.
The groups aims to topple governments and instill a strict sharia governance.
A consultative group for Lake Chad consisting of representatives from Germany, Norway and the UN, in addition to the four countries surrounding Lake Chad, is set to meet in Berlin on Wednesday, 6 September. The Norwegian Refugee Council stresses the need to put humanitarian funding and access at the top of the agenda.
“Inadequate funding is currently hampering our ability to deliver timely and life-saving assistance to people in need. Before this is put in place, there will be no hope and stability in the region,” Egeland said.
