NAN-H-64
Assistance
Damaturu, Jan.13, 2016 (NAN) The United Nations has said that it will provide development and humanitarian assistance to address economic and security problems of Internally Displaced Persons in the North-East.
Mr Edward Kallon, UN Resident Representative for Nigeria, made this disclosure when he paid a courtesy visit on Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe in Damaturu on Friday.
He said “the root cause of the problem in the North-East has development implications, we must also deal with the development aspect of the problem.”
Kallon said the UN would ensure timely and efficient humanitarian assistance to IDPs in the state “and to bring humanitarian and development assistance for the people to rebuild their lives.”
According to the Resident Representative, the agency will visit IDPs in their communities to provide them with assistance.
“The most responsible way to respond to the needs of the people is through direct contact and to get them involved,” Kallon said.
He identified psychological trauma as another major challenge “the biggest fight is the trauma people have to overcome to rebuild their lives, It may take a long time to win”.
Gaidam said “the challenges before us now have been how to effectively address the humanitarian crisis and recovery of the victims before full scale reconstruction of the affected areas.”
He said most IDPs have relocated to their communities resulting in closure of Bukar Ali camp.
“The state currently has about 2,500 IDPs in the remaining official camp at Pompomari while some IDPs are still resident in host communities spread across the state” Gaidam said. (NAN)
MM/OFN
Edited Felix Nwadioha