West African first ladies to discuss Lake Chad Basin crisis

Abuja. Nigerian First Lady Aisha Buhari will on February 28 host her counterparts from West Africa in Abuja to adopt a strategy to assist women and children affected by the crisis in the Lake Chad Basin.

The technical committee on the meeting made the announcement in the northern city of Sokoto where it was holding its sessions.

Mrs Buhari had initiated discussions on the issue with her counterpart from Niger, Dr Malika Issoufou Mahamadou, on the sidelines of the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly, last year.

The Nigerian First Lady and and Dr Mahamadou were concerned about the fate of the fleeing populations and refugees in the Lake Chad region, moving within and across national borders in search of safety and settled life.

The Lake Chad Basin has been described as conflict-prone, with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) reporting 3.8 million people facing severe food insecurity and hunger as at July 2016.

Among the issues Mrs Buhari planned to put on the table are the establishment of a regional coordinating mechanism, distribution of relief materials, provision of psychosocial support to the victims and the empowerment of women and girls.

She also wants to initiate an advocacy to spotlight the full magnitude of the humanitarian crisis in the region.

Mrs Buhari was represented at the Sokoto meeting by Dr Hajo Sani, a senior special assistant in her office.

Dr Sani said the Abuja meeting would attract the first ladies of Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali, as well as development, voluntary and civil society organisations.

Nigerien Senior Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Dr Hadari Zeinabou, said the meeting would enable the first ladies to complement the efforts of their spouses in improving the well-being of the less privileged in the Lake Chad Basin.

The Sokoto technical meeting end later Tuesday.(NMG)