Save the Children International (SCI) has dolled out cash and non-food items to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) that were sacked from Yelewata Community in Benue by attackers on June 13.
Ms Jane Mutua, SCI Deputy Country Director and Director of Programme Development and Quality, said on Tuesday in Makurdi, that they were in Benue principally to support IDPs in camps, especially children.
Mutua said that at Save the Children, their work was to ensure that children’s rights were protected.
The deputy country director said that they existed to ensure that children survived, that no child died before their fifth birthday, that children learnt from quality basic education, and that children were protected.
“When displacement happens, children’s lives are interrupted. So, what we do in the camps includes supporting displaced persons with multipurpose cash transfers.
“These are funds they can use to meet their most immediate needs. The second is providing non-food items—things like buckets, tents, and basic items they need to restart their lives after being uprooted from home.
“The third area is Water, Sanitation, And Hygiene (WASH). When large groups live together, there is often an increase in waterborne diseases and insufficient sanitation facilities.
“Working with our partner, the Foundation for Justice, Development, and Peace, we provide sanitation training and teach communities how to take care of their environment.
‘The fourth is child protection services. This involves case management for children, who have been abused, are unaccompanied, or have other protection concerns,” she listed.
Mutua further stated that the organisation also provided psychosocial support, and create child-friendly spaces, or places where children can come and just be children.
According to her, while parents are preoccupied with daily needs, children go to school in the morning and come to the child-friendly space in the afternoon.
“They learn skills like beading and knitting, they play, and they learn about hygiene, self-management, and their rights.
“On the other hand, we also know that flooding displaces people. In communities like Gyado Villa, which are prone to floods, we asked ourselves: do we always have to wait for flooding to displace people before providing support?
“We decided that something could be done to prevent the impact. That’s how our anticipatory action for floods began.
“We work with communities to set up Early Warning Action Committees. These committees identify actions to reduce the impact of floods—like clearing drainages, relocating to safer areas, or building dikes.
“We also provide cash transfers to support these preventive measures,” she added.
Mr Aondowase Kunde, Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, appreciated Gov. Hyacinth Alia for always providing an enabling environment for partners to come in and support.
Kunde said that there were no policies to guide interventions like what was currently happening in the state.
The commissioner said that government alone does not have enough resources to care for IDPs.
“That is why we always call on partners to support. Save the Children, as their name suggests, focus on children—especially those traumatised or unaccompanied.
“These are children who may have lost parents or witnessed terrible violence. Save the Children is helping them heal, supporting them with psychosocial care, and even providing skills acquisition opportunities,” he said.
Mrs Blessing Terkura, an IDP, appreciated SCI for giving her N83,300 that helped her to get food and other items for her family.
Another beneficiary, Mrs Mnena Iorhumba, said that the funds afforded her the opportunity to pay and learn a trade (tailoring).
“We pray that God will grant you the strength to facilitate our safe return to our ancestral homes.
“We are tired of living in IDP camps; we want to live our normal lives,” she said.
Mr Samuel Igbudu, Flood Anticipation Capacity Enhancement Project Committee Coordinator, said that the community accessed a total sum of N2 million from SCI to carry out the activities.
Igbudu said that apart from awareness creation on impending floods, they cleared drainages and ensured that refuse was dumped in the right places.
Mrs Mwuese Tersoo, a beneficiary of the SCI intervention fund for flood prevention in the Gyado Villa Community in Makurdi, said that she got a sum of N102,000.
She said that she used the funds to move to a safe place. (NAN)
