NAN-H-71
IDPs
By Cecilia Odey
Abuja, Jan. 13, 2017 (NAN) Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has urged governments at all levels, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and media to work toward better life for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Executive Director of the organisation, Mr Auwal Musa, made the call on Friday at the second in the series of the media/civil society meeting on “Internal Displacement in Nigeria’’ in Abuja.
Musa said that over the years, Nigeria had contended with the immense challenges of providing assistance and care for persons affected by displacement.
According to him, undoubtedly, across the length and breadth of the country, there is the need for governments at federal, state and local levels as well as other committed CSOs to rise up.
He, however, said that recent record had shown that there were appreciable gains by the security forces in handling the crises associated with IDPs in the last two years.
Musa said that although the seriousness of internal displacements had continued to confront the nation, it was yet to adequately address the situation.
“We are yet to put in place concrete institutional and legislative frameworks in line with other African Union convention for the protection and assistance of IDPs in Africa.
“The advantage of having in place state-driven frameworks for managing displacement issues at a country level cannot be overemphasised,’’ he said.
He called for proactive steps in dealing with matters of IDPs, saying it was necessary to restate the need for the adoption of both the draft national policy on IDPs and the domestication of Kampala convention.
Musa acknowledged the immense support of the Embassy of Switzerland in Nigeria for providing resources under the framework of the project.
He also commended the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Nigeria for supporting the project and other initiatives that contributed to bringing succour to IDPs.
Dr Allehone Abebe, a Senior Protection Officer, UNHCR, in Nigeria, said that the country was facing humanity crises, especially in the North-East.
Abebe urged the media to ensure that the public were adequately educated on the cases of IDPs in the country through good reporting. (NAN)
COO/OPI/OPI
Edited by Olisa Ifeajika
=====