UN in $1bn appeal for North-east

The United Nations (UN) has launched a $1bn (£720m) appeal to help north-eastern Nigeria – the region devastated by Boko Haram’s insurgency for almost a decade.
The UN office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs says the money will provide life-saving emergency assistance to the most vulnerable.
Nearly eight million people are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance this year alone.
The food and nutrition crisis is also massive, according to the UN agency.
The UN humanitarian agency, which launched the appeal at an event in the Nigerian capital Abuja, says the strategy will be implemented in conjunction with the Nigerian government and other international partners.
The Boko Haram conflict has caused widespread displacement, destruction of infrastructure and collapse of basic services.
Gambia rejoins Commonwealth
The Gambia was readmitted to the Commonwealth on Thursday, welcomed back into the fold after its sudden pullout in 2013 and following the democratic election last year of President Adama Barrow.
Former president YahyaJammeh dramatically withdrew the impoverished west African nation in October 2013, branding the group an “extension of colonialism”.
New President Adama Barrow began the readmission process in February last year, two months after topping an election after which Jammeh initially refused to give up his 22-year rule, triggering a crisis.
Accused of flagrant rights abuses, Jammeh ruled mainland Africa’s smallest country with an aura of mysticism and an iron fist after seizing power in 1994.
Barrow’s formal application last month for The Gambia to rejoin the Commonwealth received unanimous backing from the other members.
A formal ceremony later on Thursday will mark the occasion.
The decision means there are once again 53 member states in the Commonwealth, the voluntary association of mostly former territories of the British empire.
The Gambia will now be invited to attend the organisation’s biennial summit, to be held in London in April.

 

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