Templars Partner, Olumide Akpata, nominated to serve as a member of the United Nations Nigerian Humanitarian Fund Steering Group alongside other leaders of the Nigerian Business Community.

The Nigerian Humanitarian Fund which was first announced at the Oslo conference in February 2017 became operational in May last year and has since raised US $70 million from 17 donor countries already allocating some US $67 million to urgent life-saving needs, with an emphasis this year on assisting new arrivals in over congested IDP camps, as well as the cholera outbreak. The Nigerian humanitarian Fund (NHF) is managed by the office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs under the leadership of the UN humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria and was created to provide funds in a flexible and timely manner so those who are most in need can have access to basic life-saving support.

The Nigerian Humanitarian Fund Private Sector Initiative has evolved to partner with the Nigerian private sector to mobilize additional resources and to ensure more timely and effective life-saving support for the affected population. The platform is a first in the world for humanitarian action and a major innovation that will serve as a blueprint for other country-based funds. The initiative will see private companies in Nigeria support the fund, joining the donor countries that have already donated to the fund.

According to Partner, Olumide Akpata, “I am extremely delighted to have been nominated to serve, alongside such eminent personalities, as a member of the UN NHF Steering Group – for a cause that I consider to be extraordinary and most timely and I definitely intend to contribute my quota to this noble effort and in the process, add appreciable value.”

Templars is pleased to be associated with such a noble and worthy cause which plays a vital role in assisting the most vulnerable within our society. As the only corporate law firm in Nigeria participating at this pioneering phase, this further demonstrates our innovative and trailblazing spirit in delivering world-class legal solutions to our clients and contributing towards the general upliftment of our society and economy as a whole.