Abubakar Bako/Maiduguri
…to Provide Schools to One Million Children, Psycho Social Services, Nutritional Food for 400,000 Children, and Women in Borno…As UNICEF Marks Third Year Anniversary of Abducted Chibok School Girls
United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF has targeted one million internally displaced persons IDPs children who don’t have access to school or education for provision of educational facilities and instructional materials out of the estimated three million displaced children not having access to school/education as a result of the boko Haram insurgency.
It also intended to cover all the children through the elaboration of psycho social services and other health treatment including nutritional food items to address the sufferings of the children and women.
The Chief of UNICEF Field Office, Maiduguri, Borno State, Mr. Geoffrey Ijumba who disclosed this yesterday at a pres conference in his office with newsmen said UNICEF was doing everything possible within its reach to ensure the safety of displaced children and women in collaboration with other humanitarian partners and Government stakeholders or agencies.
He added that UNICEF deemed it necessary to mark this year 2017 anniversary of the abducted school girls following the massive destruction of public and private property, killings and bombings by the boko Haram insurgents in the north east which drastically displaced and affected millions of children and women and rendered others homeless.
Ijumba noted that it was regrettable that the insurgency had put millions of children in a terrible situation and poor or bad condition as millions of children do not have access to school, health facilities, water supply and decent livelihood.
He said it was on these basis that UNICEF has been collaborating with RUWASA to ensure regular and adequate supply of water at all the IDPs camps where each IDP gets 15 liters of water daily from the boreholes it has drilled in all the camps while other coordinating and managing agencies in camps ensure environmental cleanliness through environmental sanitation as part of the hiegenic measures taken to ensure good health of the IDPs apart from public toilets for the IDPs at all the camps.
He said also that the situation had made UNICEF to engage 2000 volunteers to carry out advocacy mission at the camps while efforts were being made to ensure adequate and prompt provision of instructional materials to the IDPs pupils and students, for the resilience and commitment of teachers engaged by the State Universal Basic Education Board SUBEB.
Geoffrey noted also that UNICEF has a mission to support and encourage the children of the northeast for their resilience to overcome the insurgency with dignity and honour by ensuring the security of the future of the children.
He lamented that over 500,000 children of the IDPs were malnourished and requite nutritional food but UNICEF targeted 400,000 children to provide them with nutritional food and other health services in collaboration with other development partners and government.
The Chief of the UNICEF Field Office Maiduguri however commended the federal and state governments in the north east as well as the Nigerian Army for their support and resilience while acknowledging also the resilience of the people of the north east despite the security challenges, noting that, in some states, children were still going to school and IDPs were accommodated in rehabilitation centers and organized IDPs camps .
He said UNICEF was also teaming up with the Nigerian government and other humanitarian partners to alleviate the sufferings and hardships of the children and give them the right livelihood to become good future leaders and decent members of the society without any trauma or stigma while appealing for more funds to be pumped into the rehabilitation, reconstruction and resettlement of the IDPs by the governments, wealthy individuals and organizations.
