At the end of a visit to the Lake Chad Basin countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration of the US Department of State, Ms. Anne Richard, and EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Mr. Christos Stylianides, as well as UN Assistant Secretary-General Toby Lanzer, called on the international donor community to increase their financial support for populations affected by violence.
 

“The United States is deeply concerned by the current situation faced by displaced and refugee people as a result of continuing violence in the Lake Chad Basin, whether it is here in Chad, Cameroon or in neighboring countries of Niger and Nigeria,’ affirmed Assistant Secretary Richard. ‘The United States recognises the efforts made by governments in the region which has seen 2.7 million people forced from their homes and is pleased to increase its support for UN agencies and NGOs by $27 million to a total of $112 million in the current fiscal year.”

“We are very concerned by the serious humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad basin. The European Union restates its solidarity with the populations impacted by this regional crisis. They have our full support. We will continue to provide assistance wherever it is needed," Commissioner Stylianides said. “Today, as we reaffirm our commitment to this region, I am announcing that the EU has decided to allocate ■58 million in 2016 to support the people most in need. With this assistance, we will help provide food, shelter, clean water, and healthcare, as well as protection to the conflict affected populations. It also aims at preparing the population better to withstand shocks, therefore increasing their resilience. This funding is part of the overall European Union humanitarian action in the wider Sahel region of over ■200 million this year.”

“I am very grateful for this funding from the United States and the European Union. Together with support from the Central Emergency Response Fund which has provided over $102 million for humanitarian aid in the Lake Chad Basin,  UN agencies and their partners can scale up their work for survivors of the crisis, including displaced persons and communities hosting them, in line with our 90-day plan which we issued at the beginning of July,” underlined Assistant Secretary-General Lanzer.“I very much hope that other members of the international donor community will follow the US and EU’s example and support our response in order to avoid a deeper, broader and more costly crisis in the months to come,” he continued.

The Sahel region continues to be affected by extreme poverty, chronic food insecurity and malnutrition, climate change, and violent extremism. In the specific case of the Lake Chad Basin, where 20 million people live, 9.2 million are in need of humanitarian aid, 5.2 million are severely food insecure and in need of emergency food assistance and 2.7 million have been forced from their homes. Those hosting the displaced are sharing their already very limited resources. Furthermore, the local population is facing a very steep increase in the price of food. The main priorities of the humanitarian response are: protection; food assistance; nutrition; healthcare; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); shelter; and, emergency education.