International donor conference on Boko Haram holding in Berlin, pledged $2.52 billion to help countries in Lake Chad Basin fight Boko Haram.
Germany’s foreign ministry said the aid would be disbursed “in the coming years” to Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon, where the jihadist group launched frequent suicide bomb attacks from its bases in Lake Chad.
The two-day conference, which is being attended by more than 70 states, international organisations and non-governmental organisations, raised $672 million in 2017.
Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and Head, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, thanked donors for the generous donations.
The conference focused on humanitarian assistance, civilian protection, crisis prevention and stabilisation for the region and sought to raise $1.56 billion.
Donations and pledges by countries as monitored by News Agency of Nigeria were Germany, the host country, 265 million Euros and Norway, $125 million.
The others were United States, $420 million; Switzerland, $20 million; France, 131 million Euros; Belgium, 45 million Euros; Finland, 2.3 million Euros; and Denmark, 72.5 million. United Kingdom donated £146 million; Canada, $68 million; European Union, 231.5 million Euros; Luxembourg, 40 million Euros and Spain, 3.2 million Euros.
Lowcock said famine was averted in the region last year largely due to international aid, but that millions of people in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon were still in dire need of help.