From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has announced its plans to construct 500 housing units to support the relocation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Yelewata and other communities in Benue State.
The plan was disclosed during a high-level multisectoral coordination meeting in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, convened by the Bureau for International Cooperation and Development (BICD), in partnership with Christian Aid and Ohonyeta Care Givers (OCG).
The meeting brought together stakeholders representing government ministries, United Nations agencies, civil society organisations, and international development partners—including the Red Cross, World Health Organisation (WHO), UNHCR, and several national and international NGOs.
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Representing UNHCR during the meeting, Mrs. Beatrice Shonke said the projects would commence as soon as suitable land is made available to the agency.
According to her, a pilot initiative called IDP farms benefiting 15 households has been established in Tyomu community, Makurdi LGA, with the IDPs supported to build their homes while also working on the farms in the host community.
She said the organisation also carried out a health and education assessment in Naka, Tartyo and Yelewata communities to ascertain the conditions of their schools and Primary Healthcare centres to enable the agency to know how to intervene, especially in Tartyo where all school and health facilities were gone following the attacks.
She further expressed the willingness of UNHCR and its partners to continue to intervene in the State until IDPs are supported to go back home and stand on their feet.
Welcoming participants, Director General of BICD, Leo-Angelo Viashima, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to building a coordinated, transparent, and sustainable system that aligns with global development principles.
He commended the leadership of Governor Hyacinth Alia for providing a conducive environment for partnerships and for his strategic vision to move Benue State from humanitarian dependence toward long-term development.
“We are here not just to celebrate milestones, but to strengthen the systems that make them possible. True progress comes when government, partners, and communities work as one, identifying challenges honestly and forging inclusive, data-driven solutions that endure.”
Viashima reiterated the need to adopt and operationalise the National Social Register to ensure transparency, eliminate duplication, and improve data-driven targeting of beneficiaries.
He called on all actors to deepen collaboration and focus on durable solutions that can transition Benue from emergency response to sustainable development, insisting that “Our collective success will be measured not by the number of projects we implement, but by the systems we leave behind. Sustainability must be our goal.”
Several organisations shared updates on their ongoing initiatives across Benue State. While Sight Savers gave a detailed account of its blindness prevention work in Guma and Katsina-Ala LGAs, SOAR Initiative outlined GBV prevention activities in IDP camps.
While the World Health Organisation (WHO) presented its continued technical support to the Ministry of Health, including capacity-building for health workers and observances of global health days, other partners including Christian Aid, Tearfund, First Step, FJDP, and Terre des Hommes (TDH) also presented progress reports on programmes spanning health, education, and livelihoods in displaced and host communities.
Representing the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Jeremiah Terdoo Ityokoso applauded the BICD for its leadership in training IDP camp officials and institutionalising best practices. He emphasized the importance of aligning all interventions with the newly launched Benue State IDP Policy to promote coherence and efficiency.
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