The UN describes the conference as a critical international forum for effectively addressing the challenges facing the region. These include increased insecurity, development gaps, humanitarian needs, and barriers to accessing basic social services, production systems, and humanitarian assistance.
After nearly 13 years of conflict, armed groups continue to spread violence in the four countries bordering the lake (Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon). About 5.6 million people are believed to be at risk of severe food insecurity and about 2.9 million are internally displaced. including 2 million in Nigeria alone.
Improve coordination, tackle the climate crisis
These numbers have increased since the last conference, held in Berlin in 2018, due to increased instability COVID-19 Pandemic long-term effects, the effects of climate change and economic shocks have all exacerbated the humanitarian situation. The amount of funding required for the basin emergency response has also increased to an estimated $1.8 billion from $259 million in 2018.
The conference will take place on January 23-24 at the Mahatma Gandhi International Conference Center in Niamey, Niger. is organized by the governments of Niger, Germany and Norway together with the United Nations. Speakers include Joyce Musa, UN Deputy Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator.
The goals of the conference include a focus on improved coordination between the various actors involved in humanitarian, stabilization and development activities in the region; better access to humanitarian aid for all population groups; and addressing the adverse effects of climate change as part of peacebuilding and humanitarian efforts.
A “Gordian problem knot”
Ms. Msuya spoke on the first day of the conference remind delegates that Lake Chad was once a thriving region where goods moved freely across borders in a collaborative environment.
That spirit of cooperation, she said, collapsed under a “Gordian knot of problems,” ranging from extreme poverty and poor access to essential public services to lack of trust, rising inequality, corruption, sectarian mistrust, and the rapid depletion of natural resources and climate change.
“Immediate humanitarian action is needed to save lives and alleviate the suffering caused by this collapse. But… if we don’t get to the root causes of the crisis, the region’s wounds will not heal,” said the Assistant Relief Coordinator, calling for a long-term commitment to building enduring resilience in the face of an uncertain future.
