In efforts to improve life-saving emergency interventions in
the North-east Nigeria by all stakeholders, the government of Japan has extended
a grant of US$4.5 million, about N1.4 billion, to the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF), reports ITRealms.
Affirming this in a joint press statement by the Chief of
Communication, UNICEF Nigeria, Doune Porter, and Ambassador's Special Adviser,
Embassy of Japan, Takashi Tamai, made available to ITRealms, said that the
grant is for the provision of life-saving emergency work to assist people
affected and displaced by the conflict in northeastern 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 focus primarily on assistance for children, with
special attention given to populations trying to return to where they lived
before they were forced to flee the violence,” they said.
ITRealms reports that the seven years of conflict in the
region, 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 has triggered major population movements, with
most recent estimates of people displaced by the conflict in the four most
severely-affected states at over 1.7 million – more than half of whom are
children,” they said.
They quoted the UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Jean
Gough, as saying the people of Japan are strong supporters of UNICEF’s work to
help children and women, stressing “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.”
ITRealms recalls that with a similar grant last year from
the Government and people 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; malnourished children were provided with
life-saving treatment. Special support has been given to children who have been
separated from their families by the conflict, and traumatised children have been
given psychosocial support,” part of the statement read.
For Sadanobu Kusaoke, Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 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,” said.
Since 2000, the government of Japan has been a major donor
supporting child survival activities, prevention of infectious diseases in
children and emergency assistance in Nigeria, through the UNICEF/Federal
Government of Nigeria Programme of Cooperation.
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