U.S. announces nearly $27 million to support those affected by Boko Haram violence in Lake Chad

FILE - Nigerian girls who fled Boko Haram to Chad gather in a school set up by UNICEF at the Baga Sola refugee camp in Chad.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, Anne Richard, recently announced nearly $27 million in new humanitarian assistance to support those affected by Boko Haram violence across the Lake Chad Basin region.

Assistant Secretary Richard travelled in Cameroon and Chad recently, to highlight the devastating impact of Boko Haram and strengthen international cooperation to ease the desperate plight of refugees and internally displaced persons in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. ¨


Approximately 9.2 million people are suffering forced displacement, deprivation, and disease across the Lake Chad Basin region, including 155,000 refugees and 2.6 million internally displaced persons.Nearly five million are classified as food insecure. According to the UN, the number of displaced people has tripled over the last two years. Recent humanitarian assessments have found possible famine conditions in parts of Nigeria, requiring immediate aid to prevent further deterioration and death.

This new funding brings the total U.S. government humanitarian assistance for the Lake Chad Basin humanitarian response in Fiscal Year 2015 and Fiscal Year 2016 to nearly $281 million.

Source: http://editorials.voa.gov/a/us-assistance-for-lake-chad-basin/3445188.html