TheCable

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has launched the Lake Chad regional stabilisation fund, an ambitious multi-million dollar mechanism aimed at broadening the range of stabilisation interventions in Lake Chad Basin.

The launch took place on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the 2nd meeting of the Lake Chad Basin governors forum holding in Niamey, Niger.

The four countries of the Lake Chad Basin warmly welcomed this joint initiative as part of their ongoing efforts to secure and stabilise the region.

The fund will begin operations from September 2019 and will run until 2021 in the eight affected areas of the four riparian countries (Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad).

It will serve as a rapid response mechanism to help local authorities undermine the capacity of Boko Haram insurgents to harm civillians, by restoring and expanding effective oversight, improving the delivery of basic services and enhancing livelihoods.

The official presentation of the Lake Chad regional stabilisation Fund was one of the highlights of the second meeting of the Lake Chad governors forum which opened in Niamey under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), with the support of the African Union (AU).

The governors forum is hosted by the government of Niger and funded by the government of Germany.

Commenting on the significant impact of the fund during the opening ceremony, Ahunna Eziakonwa, UNDP regional director for Africa, said: “The Lake Chad regional stabilisation fund represents a unique and time-limited opportunity, and a collective obligation to restore hope to affected populations, especially the women and youth who have been most affected by this scourge.

“If we succeed in responding appropriately to the grievances of the population by putting an end to the spiral of insecurity, forced displacement and conflict, the situation in the Lake Chad Basin can be stabilised and the foundations of recovery and development will be established,” she said.

Speaking at the forum, Corinna Fricke, representing the German federal ministry of foreign affairs, said that “the integrated civilian-military approach of this multi-donor fund, which places particular emphasis on livelihoods and resilience, fills a strategic vacuum in ongoing stabilisation efforts. ”

She made a pledge of 40 million euros to support the stabilisation fund.

Andy Scott, conflict and stabilisation adviser at the foreign and commonwealth office on behalf of United Kingdom (UK), pledged £2 million as initial contribution to help the facility get off the ground, and rebuild social contract between communities and government while the European Union also pledged a total of 5 million euros to target immediate stabilisation

Mohamed Mouddour, governor of Diffa, Niger, thanked the donors for their support and hope that the issue of Boko Haram will be a thing of the past.

The Fund is anchored in the Lake Chad Regional Stabilisation Strategy (SRS), an innovative initiative led by the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), which was approved by its Member States in August 2018 and subsequently by the Peace Council. and security of the African Union in December 2018.

The Fund will be implemented with an initial budget of $ 100 million earmarked for the deployment of its first phase in the four riparian countries, which have expressed their strong commitment to continue the necessary stabilisation efforts in the region, including through the Fund.

It is also supported by the governments of Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom, which will have to contribute to its implementation and funding during its first phase.