By Babagana Bukar Wakil, Maiduguri
The French government in partnership with World Food Programme WFP has set aside €6.9m to address the plight of over 2 million vulnerable residents including malnourished children and as well to counter the challenges of food insecurity in northeast Nigeria.
France Ambassador to Nigeria Emmanuelle Blatmann stated this while interacting with newsmen in Maiduguri briefly after inspecting WFP’s interventions facilities located at Muna Albadawi Internally Displaced Person’s Camp Clinic “A”.
The French envoy who was accompanied by the representative and Country Director of the World Food Programme Mr. David Stevenson, said that her country had also spent a sum €7.7m for humanitarian aid in Nigeria in 2022.
Mrs. Blatmann also revealed that her country has financed and intervened in 28 different projects worth 21 million Euros to address humanitarian needs, food security, and health issues for about one million people in the last 3 years across North East sub-region.
She assured that the French government will continue to support and invest in Nigeria, especially, in the North Eastern states to bring peace and improve the lives of the vulnerable people.
She however said that following the proliferation of the lingering crisis in Ukraine, the French government through the World Food Programme (WFP) and other partners has set up an initiative to mitigate the impact of the crisis regarding access to food among vulnerable and displaced people in African countries, particularly, Borno state.
On his part, the Country Director and World Food Programme (WFP) Representative to Nigeria, Mr. David Stevenson said that the organization has supported 2.1 million people under the humanitarian response plans with support from the French government.
The interventions or response plans target children and mothers that are malnourished, provision of agricultural inputs and good supplements for mothers of malnourished children, and also build the capacity of nursing mothers to learn nutrition techniques among others, he added.
He explained that the response plan is targeting children, provides food supplements to mothers of malnourished children, and also builds the capacity of nursing mothers to learn nutrition techniques.
He said that the humanitarian response plan, while targeting children, and providing food supplements to mothers of malnourished children was also building the capacity of nursing mothers to learn nutrition techniques.
He then expressed WFP’s commitment of meet the needs of victims of conflict in the North East.
