UN: Nigeria Has Highest Number of IDPs Worldwide

UN: Nigeria Has Highest Number of IDPs Worldwide

The United Nations Country Representative, Mr. Dauda Toure, has said Nigeria has the highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world numbering 1.5 million.
Toure, who stated this yesterday in Abuja while giving his goodwill message to
commemorate the 2015 World Humanitarian Day organised by the National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), noted that a major problem for the
victims was lack of access to them, most of whom are not in camps but in host
communities.
While commending NEMA for the work it had been doing, he said there was a
need to scale up response to crisis in the country.
Toure said there was a need for more resources to be made available to improve
responsiveness in the areas of education and health care.
He further appealed to international communities and non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) to make more resources available to help to rebuild the
livelihoods of the affected victims of insurgency in the North-east, adding that the
region has a lot of potential to develop.
In his opening remarks, the Director General of NEMA, Alhaji Mohammed Sani
Sidi, said the world humanitarian day was a universal event scheduled for August
19 every year.
According to him, the day was set aside by the United Nations General Assembly
since 2008 to celebrate the gallantry of humanitarian service providers who have
lost their lives or survived different threats while providing humanitarian services
to persons caught in the web of natural or human-induced disasters especially in
violent conflict situations.
The director general noted that the theme of this year’s event, “Inspiring the
World’s Humanity”, was intended to inspire action by people around the world to
demonstrate and demand greater humanity and create widespread support for
human action.
“The world which is now noted to be more volatile due to prevailing complex
emergencies has placed a serious burden on humanitarian workers who are
working in risky environments in various countries to bring hope to the people
affected by disasters. This is the time to show solidarity and commend their
efforts,” he said.