By AIDOGHIE PAULINUS, Abuja

The Government of Japan has donated the sum of $474,272 to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Nigeria, in a statement by the Assistant Communication/Public Information Officer, Gabriel Adeyemo, said it welcomed the generous contribution from the Government of Japan.

UNHCR said it committed the office to ensure that the generous funding will be used to provide life-saving support to IDPs in North-East Nigeria.

“UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in Nigeria welcomes a generous contribution of US$ 474,272 from the People of Japan to support UNHCR operation in providing protection and a much-needed assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in North-East Nigeria,” the statement read.

Following the donation, the UNHCR Head of Sub Office Maiduguri, Alexander Kishara, said: “Sincere thanks to the Government and the People of Japan for this contribution. By providing this fund, you have asserted, yet again, our responsibility to deliver on UNHCR’s mandate for the People of Concern in Nigeria. We commit ourselves to ensure that this generous funding will be used to provide life-saving support to IDPs in North-East Nigeria.”

Kishara further said many of the displaced people do not have anywhere to sleep, no access to water, and their access to health and education services is very limited.

“With the help of well-designed livelihoods programmes, they can be gradually empowered to support themselves and their families,” Kishara added.

UNHCR added that the project “Protection and Assistance to IDPs in Nigeria,” will be implemented to touch approximately 30,921 people in Bama Local Government Area to increase the protection of affected populations.

The amount, UNHCR further said, will be utilised to restore human dignity through monitoring of the protection situation, prevention and response to the plight of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, and provision of assistance through shelter and protection safety nets/livelihood support.

“There are currently over 1.8 million IDPs in North-East Nigeria. The crisis, now in its 10th year, has displaced people several times over. Each displacement negatively impacts the stability of communities, disrupts normal life, and causes untold suffering to innocent populations.

Many IDPs are hosted in camps managed by the government and humanitarian organisations. They require continued support to meet their basic human needs.

“UNHCR takes this opportunity to appreciate the long-standing collaboration with the Government of Japan and the Japanese people,” the statement also read.

UNHCR Representative, Roger Hollo, also said: “The main objective now is to start implementing this project, and continue to collaborate, work closely with the Japanese government to achieve what we have signed for and fulfil UNHCR protection and solutions mandate. And we will continue to mobilise for more support for Nigeria.” (The Sun)