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Tag: Jose Antonio Canhandula

  • Nigerian wins 2017 UNHCR Refugees Award

    Nigerian wins 2017 UNHCR Refugees Award

    A Nigerian, Mr Zannah Mustapha, the Director, Future Prowess Islamic Foundation School, has won the UN High Commission for Refugees ( UNHCR ) 2017 Nansen Refugees Award.

    Mustapha, the first Nigerian Laureate of the award, will be unveiled on Monday in Abuja.

    UNHCR and the Norwegian Refugees Council said on Monday that Mustapha was chosen as the winner of the award for his humanitarian works in championing the rights of children.

    They noted that Mustapha’s NGO not only provides education for children but also caters to the needs of orphans, widows and abandoned children affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, thereby bringing succour to them.

    In a statement issued in Geneva on Monday, Mr Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said: “Education is one of the most powerful tools for helping refugee children overcome the horrors of violence and forced displacement.

    “It empowers young people, equips them with skills and works to counter exploitation and recruitment by armed groups.

    “Conflict can leave children with physical and emotional scars that are deep and lasting as it forces them from their homes, exposes them to unspeakable atrocities and often rips apart their families.

    “The work Mustapha and his team are doing is of the utmost importance, helping to foster peaceful coexistence and rebuild communities in North-Eastern Nigeria.

    “With this award, we honour his vision and services,’’ Grandi said.

    Speaking with NAN in Abuja, Mr Jose-Antonio Canhandula, UNHCR Representative to Nigeria, said that Mustapha was recoginsed for his efforts in championing the rights of children.

    “In addition to his education work, Mustapha has demonstrated commitment to helping all parts of the society affected by the conflict which includes setting up cooperatives for widows and supporting nearly 600 women in Maiduguri.

    “The UNHCR recognises his role as a mediator between the government and the insurgents for the release of the 82 chibok girls and the 21 young women held captive by Boko Haram for two years,’’ Canhandula said.

    In a separate statement, issued by the Norwegian Refugees Council, its Secretary-General, Mr Jan Egeland, said that the recognition of Mustapha’s brave works highlighted the importance of education for the future of Nigeria.

    “Schools lie at the heart of a society and destroying them crushes the chance of Nigeria’s next generation succeeding,’’ Egeland said.

    In his reaction to the award, Mustapha told NAN in Abuja that he felt humbled and honoured to be “listed among great icons’’ in the world for his humanitarian works in the North-East.

    He said that the award would give impetus to his humanitarian works as his vision is for the activities of his foundation to serve as a template for peaceful reconciliation in the North-East and other parts of the country.

    He said that in just a decade since its inception, the school had recorded tremendous success, which gives him the assurance that peaceful reconciliation through education and integration is achievable.

    Mustapha told NAN that founded his NGO in 2007 to provide free education, meals, uniforms and healthcare to children and orphans among others, in an effort to engender peace and reconciliation.

    “We started with 36 students and have graduated more 1,000 students; enrolled 626 in 2017, more than half of whom are girls, including 186 IDPs with 5,000 on the waiting list.

    “These children include children from both the military and the Boko Haram and they have grown to see themselves as one.

    “If it continues like this, then we are sure of peaceful reconciliation and an end to the insurgency,’’ Mustapha said.

    NAN reports that the 2017 Nansen Refugees Award will be presented to Mustapha on Oct. 2, in Geneva.

    The UNHCR Nansen Refugees award was established in 1954 and awarded annually to an individual, group or organization in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees, displaced and stateless persons.

    The award includes a commonwealth medal and monetary prize of 100,000 dollars donated by the governments of Norway and Switzerland to begin a project in consultation with UNHCR, to complement the laureate’s existing work.

  • UNHCR condemns attack on Borno IDPs camp

    UNHCR condemns attack on Borno IDPs camp

    The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on Tuesday condemned the August 31 attack on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp, Borno State.

    At least 11 people were killed in the attack.

    UNHCR’s Country Representative to Nigeria, Mr. Jose-Antonio Canhandula, said victims of the incident were returnees, who arrived from the Minawawo Camp in Cameroon.

    In a statement signed by the Commission’s External Relations Officer, Mr. Hanson Tamfu, Canhandula condemned the incident, which took place on the eve of Eid el-Kabr celebration.

    He said: “The victims are refugees in Cameroon, who had just returned to their home country after fleeing violence with hopes of beginning lives anew.

    “Security is an evident concern as we resolutely begin the implementation of the voluntary repatriation of Nigerian refugees living in Cameroon as part of the tripartite agreement signed earlier this year.

    “The tripartite agreement was signed between Nigeria, Cameroon and UNHCR to ensure voluntary and safe return of Nigerian refugees in Cameroon.”

    He, however, said the military had assured the Commission that it had taken measures to prevent further attacks.

    He said 218,525 returnees from Cameroon, Niger and Chad had registered with the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) with the support of the Commission in the last eight months.

    NAN

  • ECOWAS to set up solidarity fund to rebuild North East

    ECOWAS to set up solidarity fund to rebuild North East

     

    Mr. Edward Singhatey, the Vice President, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission says that plans are on-going to establish a solidarity Fund for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the North-East.

    Singhatey made this known on Tuesday in Abuja during the celebration of the 2017 World Refugee Day with the theme “We stand together with refugees and IDPs”.

    He said the Solidarity Fund was in compliance with the decision of the Mediation and Security Council to support the Federal Government’s Plan for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of North-East Nigeria.

    He said that the humanitarian crises in the insurgency affected states of the North-East was enormous, adding that it was constantly being assessed by the ECOWAS Commission.

    Singhatey said that the dire situation in the North-East deserved special attention, adding that it had necessitated the international community and ECOWAS Commission to engage in several interventions.

    He said that the ECOWAS Commission, working with partners had donated one million dollars’ worth of food items to support the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and 300,000 dollars for Nigerian refugees in Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

    The ECOWAS Commission vice president said that it also donated 400,000 dollars for the support of affected communities in the North-East.

    According to him, a recent statistics by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates over 65 million out of the eight billion worldwide population are refugees, asylum seekers and IDPs.

    Singhatey said that the African region represents about 30 per cent of the total number of refugees worldwide with a record of 180 million refugees as at 2016.

    He said that in West Africa, displacement and sufferings were caused by conflicts and other natural and human made causes.

    Singhatey said that failing to address the situation of refugees and other persons of concern amount to inviting adverse consequences for the environment.

    He said that the Commission’s Department of Social Affairs and Gender leads the humanitarian works with the goal of a borderless, prosperous and cohesive region with the capacity to effectively prevent and mitigate conflicts.

    He said the goal was also to limit the impact of conflicts and disasters on citizens and residents with a view to achieving human centered development.

    Singhatey said that the commission would continue to support the efforts of the Nigerian Government in assisting refugees, IDPs and other persons of concern.

    Also speaking, Mr. Jose-Antonio Canhandula, UNHCR Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS tasked Nigeria to join the new approach, which he said was the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework.

    He said that the framework was already being piloted by other African countries, including development actors and private sector in Chad, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda.

    Canhandula, however, said that UNHCR was working with various partners to foster the protection of refugees and IDPs, to collectively seek ways to increase support to the government in assisting people.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the occasion was attended by Acting President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who was represented by Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning.

    Others present were Hajiya Sadiya Farouq, the Federal Commissioner, NCFRMI, humanitarian actors and the refugees and IDPs who displayed the wares they made from various skills acquisition programmes.

  • World Refugees Day: FG promises more welfare for IDPS, Migrants

    World Refugees Day: FG promises more welfare for IDPS, Migrants

    …UNHCR laments condition of refugees

     

    The Federal Government on Monday promised that it will continue to make provisions for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and migrants precipitated by crisis in the various camps scattered across the country in line with mandate and principles of international protection.

    The assurance was given by the Federal Commissioner in charge of National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Sadiya Umar Farouk while presenting food items to inmates of the refugees camp in Nyanya Gwandara, Nasarawa State as part of activities to mark the World Refugee Day.

    June 20 is marked as World Refugee Day.

    As part of activities to mark the day, Farouk led ‎representatives of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the camp.

    Farouk said that the aim of the visit was to empathize with refugees and IDPs who have found themselves in circumstances not pleasant for humanity.

    She urged Nigerians and all individuals to take a moment to remember all those affected, assuring them that they are not forgotten.

    She said “The National Commission for Refugee, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons will continue to play its role in accordance with its mandate and principles of international protection.”

    The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Jose Antonio Canhandula lamented the condition of the refugees which he said was caused by no fault of theirs.

    He called on the international community to show solidarity with the refugees predicament.

    Also in her remarks, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Social Affairs and Gender, Dr Fatima Diasow ‎assured that ECOWAS was doing everything within its powers to curtail the disturbing incidence of conflicts across the region.

    Diasow, who was represented at the occasion by Mr Alozie Amaechi, assured that ECOWAS was willing to partner with UNHCR and other world bodies to address the sufferings of citizens caught in conflict situations across the region.

    The spokesperson of the refugees, Germaine Ukumu commended Nigeria for the show of love and provision for stranded African refugees, despite competing demands on lean resources owing to the government’s engagements in the fight against terrorism.

    She said “Whoever gives a refugee a cup of water or shelter has done mighty before God. We here there are over 50 million refugees in the world today, and more troubles are taking place to force more people out of their countries into exile.

    “Now, there is a new trend, the IDPs syndrome that has occupied ‎the attention and resources of the federal government of Nigeria in recent times due to terrorism. Despite all that, Nigeria has continued to show large heart to stranded Africans and refugees,” she said.