The Sustainable Activities in Tackling the Climate Change Crisis in Nigeria

 The sustainable activities in tackling the climate change crisis in Nigeria.

Photo credit: @eu_echo (European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations

Humanitarian crises around the world continue to rise steadily but yet we have several leading aid organizations and donors that provide some form of support in different ways. One of them is the European Union (EU). If conflicts and violence remain the major triggers of humanitarian emergencies, the situation is increasingly being worsened by frequent and more recurrent extreme weather events fueled by climate change.

In furtherance of her commitment to fighting for the most affected parts of the world, the European Union has adopted its initial annual humanitarian budget of 1.5 billion Euros for 2022. A part of this budget will serve to help vulnerable communities affected by natural hazards. In 2021, the EU allocated €150 million for this purpose, to fulfill urgent needs, such as food assistance, health, water, sanitation, shelter, and rehabilitation of basic infrastructure.

In addition, every year the EU allocates an average of €50 million of its annual humanitarian funding for targeted disaster preparedness actions. Climate change exacerbates existing humanitarian crises and disrupts the efficacy of humanitarian aid operations.

When it comes to Sub-Saharan Africa, the EU is currently working to support those suffering from the food and nutrition crisis exacerbated by conflict in the Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger) and those displaced by violence in the Central African Republic, the Lake Chad basin (Chad, Cameroon, and Nigeria). The EU is one of the leading contributors to humanitarian aid in Nigeria. These include the provision of immediate assistance to cover the basic needs of the most susceptible internally displaced people and communities in rural areas in Nigeria. The EU has supported refugees in other countries affected by conflict in Nigeria, namely Cameroon (far north region), Chad (Lake Region), and Niger (Diffa region).

EU humanitarian aid in Nigeria helps to meet the basic needs of conflict-affected people by supporting emergency food aid, clean water, shelter, hygiene and sanitation, basic primary healthcare, protection, and education. The EU currently funds food assistance in form of cash transfers, vouchers, food among families, and essential medicines to treat severely malnourished children. Also, in support of the women and children crisis that arises from the climate-change-induced conflict situation, basic community-based services receive financial EU funding. As part of efforts at improving the conditions of children trapped in humanitarian crises; EU-funded actions have given life to these projects alongside essential school supplies. Furthermore, the EU is supporting preparedness initiatives in disaster-prone areas in Nigeria. These actions have helped vulnerable people prepare for and reduce the danger of recurrent natural hazards such as epidemics and floods. In addition to these efforts, community leaders receive essential and important information about risks and prevention. This sensitizes and strengthens local efforts through creative planning and preventive action. Nevertheless, Nigeria is an EU pilot country for projects bringing together humanitarian, development and peace-building dimensions to address the needs of the most vulnerable people and further offer them social security through a more detailed long-term and holistic approach. Through these developmental strives, the EU aims to build long-term resilience in conflict-affected communities by addressing the underlying causes of violent conflict, supporting basic services, and helping people.

Also, the UNOCHA report has stated that 8.4 million people need humanitarian assistance in Northern Nigeria (Lake Chad region) due to the worsening humanitarian and protracted crises occasioned by insurgency and climate change-induced conflict. Through the EU humanitarian and societal protection, it has assisted the government in providing critical infrastructure to the displaced persons. The Lake Chad humanitarian crisis is one of the largest in the Since Lake Chad bounds four countries; Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger, in 2018 about 58.75 million Euro and 34.7 million were announced for humanitarian and development assistance respectively. The support for these Sahel countries includes; the creation of appropriate security conditions for the return and sustainable reintegration of internally displaced people and refugees; supporting the redeployment of the state for the provision of basic services (healthcare, food security, and education); supporting economic recovery and job creation. Due to the fact that the climate crisis is a continuous action, more work needs to be done to sustain previous and current aid administered.

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