In its bid to support the efforts of the United Nations World Food Programme in the north-East Nigeria to provide life-changing support to affected peoples and communities in the region, the government of Japan has supported the UN agency with $2 million.
To the WFP the donation came at a time the agency is preparing ahead of the June-July planting season.
“Livelihood assistance has been shown to bring long-term benefits to development and peace initiatives in conflict-affected regions.” The Agency said in a release made available to IMPACT News on Tuesday.
“The government of Japan is committed to supporting Nigerian and international efforts to ensure that millions of people in need of food in northeast Nigeria do not go hungry,” the Chargé d’affaires ad interim of Japan to Nigeria, Shigeru Umetsu said. “It’s expected that this funding will alleviate the suffering of people in the affected states.”
While appreciating the Government of Japan, Myrta Kaulard, the WFP Representative in Nigeria said the funding was right on time. “In partnership with Japan, WFP can maintain its focus on protecting people and making them self-reliant again because ultimately, we want to stop these people from becoming dependent on food assistance,” she said.
WFP said Japan’s support for livelihoods complements the UN agency’s lifesaving efforts in Nigeria where some 700,000 people are provided with cash or food assistance every month while over 250,000 women and children receive supplementary nutritional support.
The agency also encourages other donors to support changing the lives of thousands of crisis-affected people, thus bringing back stability to northeast Nigeria.
