The United Nations (UN) has received EUR 1.2 million from the European Union (EU) for the provision of lifesaving preparedness and response activities for coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria.
The humanitarian funding received will further the UN’s COVID-19 response in Nigeria, by engaging with communities on how to best protect themselves from the virus and providing essential health supplies where they are needed most.
The Communications Specialist of UNICEF Nigeria, Geoffrey Njoku, made this known in a statement yesterday in Abuja.
According to the UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, “With these critical funds from the EU, the UN as a whole in Nigeria is in a better position to do the important work of engaging with communities on how they can prevent the spread of this virus, and also complement the government’s efforts to ensure that healthcare workers can continue the critical work they are already doing to test and treat cases in the country.”
Also speaking, the Head of the EU’s Humanitarian Aid Office in Nigeria, Thomas Conan, said: “In these trying times, the European Union is maintaining its humanitarian support to the most vulnerable people in Nigeria, where we have funded close to €271.5 million (116 billion NGN) in emergency food aid, shelter, access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation, and basic primary healthcare since 2014.”
According to the statement, with EU funding, UNICEF will be contributing to the efforts underway in the country to contain the spread of the virus and mitigate its effects. It will help with the emergency response to identified cases, as well as prevention and preparedness measures for possible future outbreaks in crowded cities and camps for internally displaced people in Nigeria’s north-east region.