Donors pledge more support for Lake Chad region

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN

Germany and Norway on Monday pledged more than $150 million ( €129 million) of additional aid for Africa’s Lake Chad region, as violent conflicts continue to fuel human suffering in the region.

Addressing an international donor conference in Berlin, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said more than 10 million people were dependent on life-saving assistance and protection in the region.

"We stand together so that the region of the Lake Chad, the economic hub between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, does not turn into a hub for terrorism, crime, and human trafficking," Maas told the conference participants.

He underlined the importance of regional cooperation between the states bordering Lake Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon, and promised that Germany would increase its assistance for these countries.

"Until 2020, we will allocate an additional €100 million ($116 million) in humanitarian assistance," Maas said and added that Berlin would provide a further €40 million ($46 million) for security projects.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide, whose country co-hosted the conference together with Germany, Nigeria and the UN, also pledged to increase their support for the Lake Chad region.

"We will further increase our humanitarian support to over 40 million dollars (€34 million) for the next three years, from 2018 to 2020," she told the conference.

"We need to ensure that the situation remains on the international agenda. We must do more, and we must do it together. We must continue to strengthen the humanitarian response in accordance with humanitarian principles to protect and to assist people in need," she stressed.

Extreme poverty and violent conflicts are affecting more than 17 million people in the Lake Chad region, while 10 million people require humanitarian assistance and protection.