NAN-H-63
Funding
By Lizzy Agbaji
Abuja, Sept. 28, 2016 (NAN) The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) says poor funding is a major challenge hindering its functions.
Mrs Margaret Essien, the outgoing Acting Federal Commissioner, said this an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
Essien said that the commission relied solely on appropriation funds, which when released, was inadequate in addressing the needs of refugees and IDPs as well as tackliing other critical issues.
According to him, rebuilding, rehabilitating, and reintegrating properties and persons affected by the insurgency require proper funding.
The Acting Commissioner said that the commission received less attention unlike other sister agencies, adding that this had stalled its activities.
However, she said that the commission had effectively utilised the little funds available to it in tackling the critical challenges of IDPs in the FCT and North-East, including reintegrating the returnees from Cameroon.
“We are not moribund as people have been insinuating.
“We have a lot of plans on paper which we cannot actualise because of inadequate funding, and it is actually disheartening, because providing durable solution requires huge capital.
“Our budget for last year was cut down by 50 per cent, which limited our activities, and this year, the case is not that different.
“But as soon as the little money allocated to us was released three weeks ago, we kick-started our plans and have started awarding contract letters to those handling different projects.
“Recently, some staff of the commission went on a three-month training organised by the UNHCR in Borno; they are hardworking and ready to go to the field; so, we are not moribund,’’ Essien said.
According to her, the commission has carried out a needs assessment on the IDPs, including profiling to identify those who want to return and those not willing to return.
Essien said the profiling and assessment would also be done in the North-East to enable the commission to have a focused solution plan.
She said that the commission was abreast of the IDPs situation in the FCT and had visited the settlements, providing them with relief materials.
According to her, the commission also works in collaboration with NGOs in providing the IDPs with drugs and medicare, books for out-of-school children, food and non-food items, among others.
She said that the commission should be given the attention it deserved, including adequate funding, as a key agency to the Federal Government’s plans of rebuilding the North-East. (NAN)
LIZ/NKO/NKO
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(Earlier Nkechi Okoronkwo)