Setting days aside for specific issues or people is not for fun. Such days are meant to call global attention to the concerned issues or persons. Special events usually hold to draw concerns to the plights of those involved thereby creating awareness to solve the problem.
Such was the case recently when the World Humanitarian Day held worldwide. The day is set aside to recognize and appreciate those who face danger and adversity in order to help them. The day holds every August 19. The theme of this year’s celebration was “Inspiring the World’s Humanity.” It was an avenue to celebrate the spirit that inspires humanitarian work around the globe.
g hands is now.
Last week in Nigeria, activities were lined up to mark the day with the plight of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as a result of the activities of Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria. .
According to some prominent International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs), the plight of the IDPs has been compounded by the challenges faced by them (INGOs) in reaching the displaced persons with aids in order to save the lives of the affected and reduce their sufferings.
The challenges faced by these humanitarian actors in carrying out their activities range from logistics, funding, expertise and access to hard-to-reach locations in the region.
“There are places and locations that have been cut off due to lack of road as a result of the destruction of infrastructure like roads, bridges, markets, hospitals, schools, homes, business centers etc by the terrorists,” Peter Egwudah, Programme Manager- Civil Society Coalition for Poverty Eradication (CISCOPE), said.
Egwudah defined humanitarian action as the numerous actions/activities/objectives designed by aid agencies or humanitarian actors to support affected communities, people as a result of human induced conflict such as the the insurgency in the North East or natural disaster. The ultimate intent of this action is to save lives and reduce suffering of the affected people or community. These actions cover various sectors that exist.
Oxfam in collaboration with other INGO’s has been providing assistance in the North East of Nigeria, where conflict has rendered many people homeless and deprived them of their livelihood.
According to Country Director, Oxfam in Nigeria, Jan Rogge, “Everyday brings to mind the urgent need of displaced people struggling to survive a humanitarian plight in the North East of Nigeria. This is becoming alarming with the new numbers arriving the limited camps made available in the host states. It is time we seized the opportunity and collaborated to make our societies better. This year’s campaign is aimed at inspiring people all around the world and that includes Nigerians to get involved in creating a more humane world by sharing their stories of the people affected by humanitarian crises, sharing their dignity, strength and humanity to inspire us all.”
Through funding from the Department for International Development (DFID), Nigeria Joint Response (NJR) and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Oxfam is addressing the prevailing humanitarian crises and food insecurity situation in North East Nigeria through an integrated food security, livelihood and Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programs targeting the IDPs and vulnerable host communities. Through these programmes, over 92,000 people in Adamawa, Borno and Gombe states have been reached.
In addition to saving lives, the humanitarian interventions by Oxfam strive to address the long term needs of livelihoods of IDPs. The programmes are designed to integrate early recovery interventions that will allow development to begin as soon as conditions in the areas improve. It also involves the provisions of livelihood support for farmers that make up over 80 per cent of the population to resume their agriculture based livelihoods, which will entail help to restart their livelihoods.
Further, Oxfam ‘s agricultural support and WASH interventions are nutrition sensitive that focus on growing vegetable crops and promoting healthy and nutritious food for IDPs, promoting the proper hygiene practices and others.This will ensure continuity and linkages to rehabilitation and helps to address the root causes of malnutrition.
Egwudah described the efforts to assist the IDPs and said, “The effort so far in the North East is commendable as government agencies like the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) in the North East are working with other humanitarian actors like the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Oxfam, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), International Rescue Committee (IRC), Action Against Hunger (ACF), CISCOPE, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) and many others.
Appealing to the federal government of Nigeria, the National Assembly, the state governments in the North East region to expedite action in ensuring that destroyed infrastructure in the region is restored. Egwudah insists that what government owes its citizens is to safeguard lives and properties and also ensure their well being.
“We must also note that the various actions of the humanitarian aid agencies operating in Nigeria, cannot address the totality of the issues or havoc caused by the insurgents, their support is temporal and in most cases targeted at addressing immediate needs of the affected such, as food assistance, water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion as well as emergency shelter. Hence the federal government and its state counterparts must rise to the challenge to fix all the bridges, schools, homes, hospitals, markets, places of worship and also restore the dignity and livelihood of the affected people in the North East region.
On the partnership with Oxfam to support the humanitarian work in the North East, Egwudah said, ”Oxfam as you know is a global brand and a leading charity humanitarian aid agency whose purpose is to reduce poverty and suffering across the globe as well as respond to emergency situations where and whenever they occur. Oxfam in Nigeria, is supporting and responding to the humanitarian crisis in the North East specifically in three states of Adamawa, Borno and Gombe.
“Our area of intervention is Emergency Food Security and Livelihood (EFSL) and Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH). Oxfam and its partner CISCOPE, support displaced people with food rations that last for a month per household, farm inputs such as improved seedlings, pesticides and herbicide and farm tools are given as relief to affected people in their various communities.
“Equally, we sink boreholes, construct latrines, emergency shelter as well as distribution of hygiene kits and Non Food Items (NFIs). These thematic areas namely WasH and EFSL are our core areas of work hence we mainstream gender based violence (GBV) and protection issues in our response and programming.”
But Egwudah feels Nigerians should not leave the support of humanitarian cause to INGOs and governments alone. “The aid we receive from overseas for humanitarian action comes from individual donations of people from different walks of life to support others in other clime. This is because they have been sensitized and also believe in their system, structures and government to deliver.
“Nigerians can also join in this benevolent act of humanity by supporting their fellow citizens who are in distress not because they are of the same tribe, religious beliefs, political affiliation but because those who are affected are human beings and the dignity of any human being must be protected. Just imagine if every Nigerian should contribute N1,000 to humanitarian cause the amount that will be realized will surpass whatever budget line the federal government or any donor will give.
“Our attitude to one another need to change. Nigerians should learn to support each other. But I think that a lot of Nigerians don’t believe in the structures put in place by its government due to corruption and administration bottleneck and these are germane issues we must all confront to get the desired result.”
Challenges ahead
There is a strong push from the federal government to facilitate the IDPs to return to their places of origin. However, according to Oxfam’s assessments, it’s been revealed that 90 per cent of the IDPs across all the three states have lost all major assets they possessed before the insurgency. Their houses are burned down and farms are destroyed and no seeds and tools are available. This provides a challenge and hurdle the IDPs face upon returning to their places of origin if the security situation will allow them in the future.
This means that the overwhelming majority of the IDPs have lost their livelihood assets and hence have to re-start their livelihoods from scratch when they get back home. Currently only 10 per cent of respondents have indicated they possess some assets such as motorcycles, mobile phones, radios and jewelry, and mainly depend on their relatives and friends.
According to Oxfam, the IDPs were asked what critical livelihood assets they would require to restart their livelihood if the security situation improves. Our continued advocating to humanitarian donors, the governments of Nigeria and other development partners is for more humanitarian resources to ensure that the returnees are provided with “a start up livelihood package” upon their return to their places of origin.
It is therefore not enough that the IDPs are asked to return to their homes. Governments at all levels, international donors, groups and well-meaning Nigerians must be ready and willing to offer their helping hands to forestall a situation where the returnees would become liabilities to their society. The time to extend the helping hand is now.
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