Kalshingi H Jedidah
The Nigeria Support Fund for the victims of insurgency ( Victims Support Funds) said it has intensified effort to provide support to health agencies to enable free health services for the victims of insurgency in Nigeria.
Executive Director Victims Support Fund Prof Sunday Ucheche disclosed in Gombe Yesterday when he lead a delegation of committee of the Victims Support Fund to the state, he said the organisation founded in July 2014 was to source funds and disparch them in a manner that would give succour to victims of the insurgency.
According to him, the organisation had recently prioritised its support programmes focusing on women and children who have been widowed and orphaned by the spate of insurgency by trying to address some of their problems through economic empowerment education of the victims’ children.
Ucheche said the delegation was in Gombe to partner with the state government through its health agencies with a donation of N20 million with a view to strengthen their capacities to effectively deliver health services to the victims.
According to him, the delegation was assigned to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the health agencies in the state to provide clear guidance and frame of work with which the resources would be used.
” This is to assure that we are reasonably agreeing through the content of the Memorandum of Understanding that the funds would be used for the purpose for which it was given, and so we would be able to account back to Nigerians about the resources.” He added.
Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo who earlier, received the delegates in his office, stated that, Gombe state which is located at the center of the north east sub region, had experienced influx of Internally Displaced Persons IDPs from the other parts of the sub-region.
Governor Dankwambo who disclosed that, reports have shown more than 80% of the IDPs coming into the state were not willing to go back to their home states, also expressed that, Gombe state government had adopted the policy through which the IDPs are integrated as part of the society rather than being kept in camps.
He however, thanked the Fund for its prompt response to the call for assistance by the state government, even as he thanked the Federal government for its various intervention programmes in the state.
