United Nations High Level Mission Visits Bama Ahead 5th Lake Chad Basin Governor’s Forum

<h4>United Nations High Level Mission<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;"><strong>OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;strong><&sol;a> reports that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General &lpar;SRSG&rpar; and Head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel &lpar;UNOWAS&rpar;&comma; Mr&period; Leonardo Santos Simão&comma; the SRSG for the UN Regional Office for Central Africa &lpar;UNOCA&rpar;&comma; Mr&period; Abdou Abarry&comma; and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria&comma; Mr&period; Mohamed M&period; Fall&comma; visited Bama a day before the kick-off of the fifth Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum for Regional Cooperation on Stabilization&comma; Peacebuilding&comma; and Sustainable Development in Maiduguri&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Forum billed to hold from 29 to 31 January in Maiduguri&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It aims to foster dialogue&comma; coordination and cross-border cooperation among state and national governments&comma; the UN&comma; regional economic communities&comma; civil society organizations&comma; and other partners to address the pressing challenges facing the region and to devise strategies for long-term stability and development&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>During the visit&comma; the high-level officials highlighted the steady progress made in Bama&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This includes joint Government&comma; UN and partners efforts to provide internally displaced persons &lpar;IDPs&rpar; with humanitarian assistance and livelihood support and initiatives enhancing social cohesion and reintegration through social and economic activities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>They also noted the challenges that remain including violence&comma; the threat posed by the climate crisis&comma; and inadequate basic services&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The officials visited a centre equipping young girls and boys with livelihood skills run by the International Organization for Migration &lpar;IOM&rpar; and a UNICEF-run social cohesion project at the Government Senior Secondary School &lpar;GSSS&rpar; camp&period; In addition&comma; they visited a nutrition centre supported by the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">World Food Programme<&sol;a> &lpar;WFP&rpar; where malnourished children are receiving treatment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The officials also spoke with women and adolescent girls at a UNHCR&sol;GISCOR Safe Space and met with representatives of humanitarian agencies in Bama&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>They also paid a courtesy call on the Shehu of Bama Dr&period; Umar Kyari Umar El-kanemi&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<em><strong>I returned to Bama today&comma; eight years since my last visit – which was a few months after it was liberated from the insurgency&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;A lot has changed since then&comma; with marked improvement in the lives of people affected by the crisis&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;While there is still work to be done to address insecurity and its impact on civilians&comma; I thank the Borno State authorities&comma; donors&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">United Nations agencies<&sol;a> and partners for their commitment and dedication through this journey that has made Bama what it is today&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;<em><strong>I<&sol;strong> <strong>also call for sustained support to address the remaining challenges&comma;”<&sol;strong> <&sol;em>said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria&comma; Mohamed Malick Fall&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Bama town remains vulnerable to attacks by non-state armed groups due to its proximity to the Sambisa Forest&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This has made it difficult for communities to carry out livelihood activities&comma; including farming&comma; fishing and firewood collection&period; This has increased their dependence on humanitarian assistance&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Bama illustrates the situation of many communities across the Lake Chad Basin impacted by 16 years of conflict in the region&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;