Norway gives 100 million kroner to Boko Haram victims

People walk inside the Muna Internally displace people camp in Maiduguri, Nigeria December 1, 2016 REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

Norway provides 100 million kroner in assistance to girls and women who have been abused by the rebel group Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria.

According to UNICEF, the funds will go to education and support for women victims of violence in the area. Assistance shall support around 1,600 of the thousands of girls and women who, according to UNICEF, are raped, abducted and forcibly married as a result of the conflict. Moreover, the funds support schooling for half a million displaced children.

“We believe in the importance of doing what we can to break up the culture of violence in northeastern Nigeria”, says Jens-Petter Kjemprud, Norwegian ambassador to Nigeria. “The humanitarian situation around Lake Chad is very serious.” Boko Haram has driven 2.7 million people from their homes. An estimated 20,000 people have died as a result of Boko Haram conquests in northeastern Nigeria.

UNICEF fears that 400,000 children will starve and 80,000 children will die northeast Nigeria if they do not receive aid. Norway will continue its efforts to increase the international support to the area, said Mr Brende, who visited Nigeria Friday.

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today