Australia Pledges $5 million Humanitarian Aid Package for North East

Australia has pledged an additional $5 million (N1.6 billion) in assistance to address the humanitarian situation in North-East Nigeria. This was disclosed by the Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop on June 7 in Abuja. She said the fund would be delivered by the World Food Programme and the Red Cross. According to a statement released by the Australian High Commission, the fund is aimed at helping meet the needs of over 7 million people at risk of starvation in northeast Nigeria. This includes 1.4million acutely malnourished children in the area.
Bishop said, “This funding supplements Australia’s regular funding to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund and humanitarian organizations to respond to humanitarian crises globally, including, in Africa. In 2016 and 2017 Australia contributed a total of 15.7 million dollars for humanitarian assistance in North-East Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin. The Australian High Commission in Abuja also supports these larger multilateral efforts through its Direct Aid Programme.”  According to the minister, the High Commission in 2017 is providing assistance to organizations to deliver projects including clean cook stoves and income generating activities for Internally Displaced Persons. She said that this also includes production and distribution of nutritional supplements.