New York – The Government of Germany has committed €10,100,000.00 towards strengthening stabilization interventions in targeted communities affected by the decade-long Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin. The Government demonstrated this by signing a third-party cost sharing agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York.

This is the first tranche of €40million pledged by Germany to the Lake Chad Regional Stabilization Facility, launched during the second Governors Forum, held recently in Niamey, Niger in July this year. Other development partners including the European Union, governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom are also supporting the facility. The Government of Sweden has already signed its cost sharing agreement amounting to 80 million Swedish Kronor with UNDP, as its contribution to the Facility at the forum in Niger.  

The agreement was signed by Jürgen Schulz, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations, on behalf of his country, and Ahunna Eziakonwa, Assistant Secretary General and Director of the Regional Bureau of Africa, UNDP.  Ms. Eziakonwa expressed her appreciation to the Government of Germany, for the commitment, stating that the resources will bring hope to the affected populations, especially women and youth, who have endured so many years of suffering, displacements and deprivation.

The contributions and support from partners will facilitate the implementation of various initiatives aimed at restoring and extending effective civilian security to the communities in the region, strengthening livelihood support systems and rebuilding essential infrastructure and restoration of basic services in the Lake Chad Basin. The intervention under the facility will provide employment opportunities for local populations in the region, consequently helping to reduce household level poverty, combat radicalization and recruitment of young people into terrorism groups.

The Regional Stabilization Facility is anchored in the Regional Stabilization Strategy (RSS) for Lake Chad, which is a ground-breaking initiative led by the Lake Chad Basin Commission and adopted by its Member States in August 2018. The strategy is endorsed by the African Union Peace and Security Council in December 2018.

The first 18-month phase of the stabilization facility project will kick-start this year with a planned budget of $100 million across the four countries - Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. The interventions will be implemented in collaboration with the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the African Union.