A group of major international donors made big pledges on Tuesday to help address one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The World Food Program estimates that more than 10 million people in the Lake Chad Basin are in urgent need of assistance and protection. Of that number, at least 2.4 million people have been displaced by a confluence of violence and environmental disasters in the Basin areas of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.
The militant group Boko Haram has been actively fighting in the region for at least nine years, leaving more than 30,000 people dead.
Additionally, Lake Chad has lost 90 percent of its water mass since 1963, devastating local economies and populations.
This week, the United Nations convened a meeting of international donors to try to increase funding for humanitarian, security and development responses. Attendees included representatives from more than 70 countries, international banks and humanitarian organizations.
The conference yielded pledges exceeding $2.17 billion on Tuesday — more than what was initially requested. The funding will address immediate humanitarian needs as well as root causes of the crisis.
Sources: AllAfrica, U.N. News, ReliefWeb