UN Humanitarian Coordinator Frowns At Slow Pace of NGOs Activities in Borno....

United Nations Resident Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon apoealed to all the humanitarian development partners and stakeholders to braise up to the required and adequate services to prove themselves to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the north east.

Kallon who could not hide his feelings at the forum with the humanitarian stakeholders from Borno State stated this during the Monthly Humanitarain Stakeholders Meeting held in Maiduguri yesterday.

He however said: "We need to have a better understanding of the gap in the services we are providing for the displaced persons in the camp. We don't have a better understanding of the gaps, we also need to provide services based on international best practices.

"We are not meeting the best standard that is required. We must work together to provides better services. One thing that is very clear whatever we have done and what we are doing currently its way below international standard.

"We are meeting to look at the issues of urgency. 89,000 need to be relocated and we need more than 28 hectares of land, 20,110 people are sleeping outside without shelters.

" I went to Bama and was shocked with what I saw. Damboa shows another ugly face with over 10,000 without shelters.

Camps are over congested. "We are under so much pressure to improve on what we are doing. We should not be too proud that we have extremely well, there is still a lot needs to be done.

"And I call on NEMA and SEMA that is the area we need to work with the international community to bridge the gap.

"I am seriously worried about the efficiency and effectiveness of what we are doing to address displacement in Northeast we should better and we must do better." Kallon said.

In his remarks, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Director General, Engineer Maihajja Mustapha disclosed that the agency has recorded over 45,000 internally displaced persons (IFPs) that have no shelter and are living in open places across Borno State.

Maihajja who was represented by the Director of Planning and Strategy, NEMA, Mr.Kayode Fagbemi added that the recent challenges were as a result of the large number of arrival of new Internally displaced persons from the Boko haram insurgents enclaves.

He said: "The Zonal Coordinator, North East just told us that about 45,000 are without shelters. It is because of new arrivals. We are here to plan on how to address theae challenges as well as to provide non food and food items to the IDPs to bring succour to their plight."

"The purpose of convenying this meeting is not to only to tell us what they had done but to tell us the challenges and gaps so that we can profer solutions to the challenges.

"We know that humanitarian situation is getting worst in some areas and there are more critical needs in some areas. If there is no coordination meeting this gaps will not be identified", the DG added