The world’s displaced persons had reached 68.5 million, and an unprecedented level of over 25 million of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Those are the words of Antonio Canhandula, UNHCR Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, who spoke at the Daystar-UNCHR partnership cemented by a N10-million donation on Tuesday.
According to him, 76 per cent of the 68.5 million were women and children.
Appreciating the church’s gesture, Canhandula said the donation would be used to provide life-saving emergency assistance to families forced to flee their homes.
“Nigeria is unfortunately affected by this phenomenon, not only in the north-East, but also in the Middle Belt
He noted that many displaced persons do not have where to sleep, no access to water and healthcare facilities.
And without help, Daystar Senior Pastor Sam Adeyemi agreed, the internally displaced persons can’t access all these basic requirements of life.
According to him, the donation was a commitment toward restoring the resilience of families forced to flee across the continent.
“We at Daystar are happy to support UNHCR’s work on the ground to provide emergency relief and support to our forcibly displaced brothers and sisters,” Adeyemi said.
“The church is in a partnership with UNHCR “to support UNHCR’s work on the ground to provide emergency relief and support to our forcibly displaced brothers and sisters.”
Daystar said displacement is a form of social change caused by different factors, the most common being armed conflict, disasters, famine, under-development and economic changes.
And the UN representative added that the donation has paved the way for other civic organisations to support Nigerians fleeing conflict zones.
Africa, Camhandula noted, has vast potential to finance the needs of its displaced persons through its rich spirit of giving and human solidarity.
Really, many Christian centres across the nation have apparently risen to the challenge of assisting the humanitarian body in bearing the burden of forced displacement in Nigeria.