The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Nigeria has restated its commitment to providing humanitarian assistance to flood victims and other forms of disaster.

UNOCHA head Trond Jensen made the pledge when he visited the director-general of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Monday in Abuja.

Mr Jensen, who decried the devastating situation of flood victims in Nigeria, also commended the agency for its prompt response in assisting the affected persons.

“We are very much hoping that we will be of mutual support to you and that we can work very closely together and particularly (during) these very trying times when Nigeria is devastated by flooding,” he stated. “We have been given a mandate by the United Nations to coordinate the humanitarian response, either in complex emergencies, which is normally in conflicts or alternatively in natural disasters.”

UNOCHA had mainly focused on the North-East because “we were invited by the government to come support the victims of the conflicts in the North-East,” said the UN official.

“But what we are looking at is potentially to provide support at the federal level, both in terms of assessment, information management, some coordination support potentially as well as with resource mobilization and advocacy,” Mr Jensen further said.

(NAN)