UK donates £15 million to tackle food insecurity and malnutrition in North-East
The money will fund the United Nations Children’s
Fund, UNICEF, and World Food Programme, WFP, to deliver life-saving activities to respond
to crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity and malnutrition for
vulnerable people, including malnourished women and children.
This food assistance funding is part of the
UK’s wider commitment to prioritise life-saving humanitarian aid to communities
around the world who are most vulnerable due to the ongoing combination of
crises.
Acting British High Commissioner to
Nigeria, Gill Atkinson said: “As conflict continues, 4.1 million people are
facing a food crisis in North-East Nigeria. Through this emergency funding, the
UK has allocated £15 million of humanitarian assistance to tackle food
insecurity and malnutrition among the region’s most vulnerable people,
including women and children.
This life-saving aid will help stave off
starvation and support people to become more resilient.”
The UK is proud to be supporting the work
of our delivery partners – the World Food Programme and UNICEF – whose aid
workers put themselves at great risk in order to reach those suffering most.
This emergency funding supports the UK’s
work alongside the Nigerian government to build security in the face of growing
instability in the north of the country.
The UK has also announced further
humanitarian funding to several West African countries in the Sahel region
today, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger. When combined with the £15 million funding
allocated to North-East Nigeria, this humanitarian funding totals £37.65
million.
Minister for Africa, Vicky Ford said: “Millions
of people across the Sahel and West Africa are unimaginably suffering with
hunger and malnutrition.
“That’s why the UK will step up with an
urgent £38 million of humanitarian funding, reaching those most vulnerable and
saving lives across the region.
“The number of people facing starvation is
at their worst for a decade. Whilst this UK funding is a necessity, it has to
be part of a bigger international effort. We are calling on international
partners to enhance our collective support and scale-up intervention to halt
this humanitarian catastrophe.”
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