UN allocates $5m to Nigeria to mitigate flood impact

The United Nations has released $5 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help Nigeria prepare for severe floods forecast in parts of the country.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said the allocation is part of a broader initiative to cushion the effects of natural disasters and comes in addition to $2 million earlier disbursed from the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund.

UN spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters on Wednesday that the funds would enable humanitarian partners to provide food, cash, and shelter assistance to about 350,000 people in Adamawa State, one of the flood-prone areas in the northeast.

In a related move, Dujarric announced that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had also released $1 million to Burkina Faso to tackle the impact of expected floods following heavy rains.

He explained that the support, drawn from the Regional Humanitarian Fund for West and Central Africa, would help local NGOs deliver food, shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene services to 35,000 people in the Centre-Nord and Sahel regions.

According to him, this marks the first time funds are being released from OCHA’s regional pool as part of anticipatory action, underscoring the importance of early warning systems and close collaboration between the UN, its partners, and national authorities.