UNDP Launches Regional Stabilization Facility for Lake Chad with $100 M Budget
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched the Regional Stabilization Facility for Lake Chad, an ambitious multi-million dollar fund to scale up the range of stabilization intervention in areas of Lake Chad Basin.
The four Lake Chad Basin countries (Cameroun, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria) have warmly welcomed this joint initiative, as part of their own ongoing efforts to secure and stabilize the region.
The Facility will be implemented with a planned budget of $100 million for the first phase across the four countries, which have expressed their continued strong commitment to leading necessary stabilization efforts in the region, including through the Facility.
The Facility will start operating on 1 September for 2 years in the eight affected regions of the 4 riparian countries (Cameroun, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria) and will serve as a rapid response mechanism to help the local authorities curtail the ability of Boko Haram insurgency by restoring and extending effective civilian security; improve the delivery of basic services and livelihoods, the UNDP said in a press release.
The official presentation of the Facility was one of the high points of the 2nd Meeting of the Lake Chad Governors’ Forum which opened in Niamey, Niger, Wednesday, under the aegis of the Lake Chad Basin Commission with the support of the African Union.
The Forum is hosted by the Government of Niger and supported with funds from the Government of Germany.
Speaking of the potentially far-reaching impact of the Facility during the opening ceremony of the 2nd Meeting of the Lake Chad Governors’ Forum on Wednesday, UNDP Regional Director for Africa Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa said: “With the Regional Stabilization Facility, we have a unique and time-bound opportunity and a collective obligation to restore hope to affected populations, especially women and youth who have been most affected by this scourge. If we respond appropriately to grievances and end the spiral of insecurity, forced displacements and conflict, the situation in the Lake Chad Basin can be stabilized, and the foundations of recovery and development established.”
The Facility is anchored in the Regional Stabilization Strategy (RSS) for Lake Chad, a ground-breaking initiative led by the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and adopted by its Member States in August 2018, and endorsed by the African Union Peace and Security Council in December 2018.
The Lake Chad region faces great challenges. Millions of people from northeast Nigeria, parts of Niger, Chad and Cameroon are forced to cope with the impact of frequent droughts and famines.
Furthermore, the region – formerly an important trade hub between Central and West Africa – has been haunted by Boko Haram terror for ten years.
