As part of the activities to mark the 2016 World
Humanitarian Day, the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, sent a
technical team to Maiduguri, Borno State, to conduct interviews with domestic
and international stakeholders working in the IDP camps in the greater
Maiduguri area. The purpose of the visit was to collect information about the
emergency relief, recovery and rehabilitation efforts in Borno State.
Saraki's team were directed to review the coordination
between the government of Nigeria and NGO/INGOS, the capacity of service
delivery programs and receive feedback from the IDP's themselves.
At the camps, the team interacted with groups of committed
officials and volunteers of NEMA and SEMA, who stated that the government was
doing all that it possibly could to aid and secure the IDPs. However, the
complexity and scale of the emergency is far beyond the government's capacity
and that Nigeria simply cannot do it by themselves.
Speaking on the purpose of the visit, the Senate President
stated that it was important to send a team to assess the humanitarian
situation on ground in the North East, following reports from aid agencies that
greater international attention and a more robust response is needed to
alleviate the plight of the over 9 million Nigerians who are in need of relief
in the Lake Chad Basin area.
"We cannot afford to take for granted the sacrifice and
support of both our domestic and international partners in the North East,”
Saraki stated, “This is why we must all sit down as quickly as possible to plan
the transition from crisis, to relief and beyond. We must expedite the
processes that are needed to bring about the recovery and rehabilitation of the
entire region."
The Senate President’s delegation also represented Saraki at
the North East Humanitarian Summit, hosted by UN OCHA and the Network of Civil
Society Organisations, Borno State (NECSOB), where 150 IDP Ambassadors - 25
people chosen from 6 different camps - were inaugurated as representatives of
the IDPs in Borno State. The responsibility of the IDP Ambassadors is to relay
the concerns about protection, community input and empowerment of IDPs directly
to government and international partners.
Several IDPs who spoke at the North East Humanitarian Summit
raised awareness about nutrition and food aid delivery issues.
In a related development, the Senate President has called
for an International Summit on the North East - similar to the one held in
London for Syria which raised about $10 million. He also mentioned that at the
resumption of the Senate in September, there would be a motion to create a
Senate Ad-Hoc Committee to conduct a Public Hearing on the humanitarian
response in the North East. This public hearing would be aimed at reviewing the
recommendations of domestic and international partners in order to develop a
sustainable framework for Nigeria’s emergency and humanitarian crisis
management for the North East and future complex emergencies.
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