UN: Nigeria Has Highest Number of IDPs Worldwide

The United Nations Country Representative, Mr. Dauda Toure, has said Nigeria has the highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world numbering 1.5 million.

Toure, who stated this yesterday in Abuja while giving his goodwill message to commemorate the 2015 World Humanitarian Day organised by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), noted that a major problem for the victims was lack of access to them, most of whom are not in camps but in host communities.

While commending NEMA for the work it had been doing, he said there was a need to scale up response to crisis in the country.

Toure said there was a need for more resources to be made available to improve responsiveness in the areas of education and health care.

He further appealed to international communities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to make more resources available to help to rebuild the livelihoods of the affected victims of insurgency in the North-east, adding that the region has a lot of potential to develop.
In his opening remarks, the Director General of NEMA, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Sidi, said the world humanitarian day was a universal event scheduled for August 19 every year.
According to him, the day was set aside by the United Nations General Assembly since 2008 to celebrate the gallantry of humanitarian service providers who have lost their lives or survived different threats while providing humanitarian services to persons caught in the web of natural or human-induced disasters especially in violent conflict situations.

The director general noted that the theme of this year’s event, “Inspiring the World’s Humanity”, was intended to inspire action by people around the world to demonstrate and demand greater humanity and create widespread support for human action.

“The world which is now noted to be more volatile due to prevailing complex emergencies has placed a serious burden on humanitarian workers who are working in risky environments in various countries to bring hope to the people affected by disasters. This is the time to show solidarity and commend their efforts,” he said.