The United States has approved $32.5 million in aid for Nigeria to combat hunger.
This is coming months after U.S. President Donald Trump suspended most assistance from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
This was contained in a statement from the U.S. Mission to Nigeria on Wednesday,
The new funding will provide food aid and nutritional support to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in conflict-affected regions.
The assistance is expected to reach over 764,000 people in Nigeria’s northeast and northwest.
It includes electronic food vouchers and nutritional supplements for 41,569 pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls, as well as 43,235 children.
Nigeria is currently facing a deepening humanitarian crisis.
Insecurity and reduced funding have fueled what has been described as “an unprecedented hunger crisis” in the country’s north.
Over 1.3 million people are at risk of going without food, and 150 nutrition centers in Borno State may be forced to shut down.
Margot van der Velden, the World Food Program’s (WFP) regional director for West Africa, in July, warned
That same month, the WFP announced it was suspending food assistance across several crisis-hit countries in West and Central Africa.
This is due to severe funding shortfalls caused by U.S. and other international aid cuts.
