NHRC Charges IDPs Monitors on Credible Reports

Rights Commission Charges IDPs Monitors on Credible Reports

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has charged the IDP monitors in the North East and North Central Nigeria to be thorough in reporting the Human Rights and Humanitarian challenges confronting the IDPs.

The Commission is implementing an intervention project on monitoring the human rights protection issues and humanitarian situation of internally displaced persons in six states of Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Taraba and Benue, with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Both partnering organizations gave this charge at a midterm review meeting of the 3rd phase of NHRC/UNHCR IDP Protection Monitoring Project which commenced from January 2017 and will end on 31st December, 2017.

The first phase of the project was in 2015. The meeting took place in Yola Adamawa State, being one of the six project states.

At the review meeting which amongst other things, was aimed at assessing the performance of IDP Monitors in the project states with a view to improving implementation, the Acting Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Mrs Oti Ovrawah, said it was necessary to take stock of the activities of the IDP monitors on the field in order to identify gaps and challenges that may inhibit excellent performance.

Mrs Ovrawah added that the review meeting will enable partners to outline corrective actions to ensure that the objectives of the project are maximally actualized.

The Project Coordinator and the Director Monitoring Department NHRC, Tony Ojukwu Esq who represented the ES NHRC at the occasion, said, aside from improving on the lapses of monitors, the review meeting would also serve as a learning process for all the stakeholders in the project.

Ojukwu reiterated that the observation and recommendations made by monitors based on their experience on the field will suggest the sustainability of the project, at the same time attract further support from partners.

The Country Representative of the UNHCR who was represented by the UNHCR Assistant Field Officer in Adamawa state, Mrs Veronica Yohana, emphasized that as foot soldiers of the project, the nature of report submitted by monitors will determine the future intervention that would be provided, as well as the nature of issues that would be presented globally.

Participants unanimously agreed that leveraging on the support provided by sister organisations like NEMA and other relevant organisation including NGOs, the Commission and UNHCR have gone a long way in recording success in the implementation of the project.

According to them, humanitarian services can be successfully rendered through collaboration as cases referred to agencies are immediately attended to.

To the monitors, saving lives is protecting rights and as such, they called for more relief materials from government and stakeholders to alleviate the suffering of the IDPs.

By PRNigeria