Who we’re fighting for
UNSC trip: reflections on Cameroon
When it comes to the Lake Chad Basin crisis, I always knew who we were fighting: Boko Haram. The terrorist group has wrecked havoc across the region, leaving thousands dead and millions displaced.
But today I learned something about who we’re fighting for.
We’re fighting for a generation living in refugee and displacement camps. We’re fighting for the women who have felt the pain of Boko Haram’s brutality. We’re fighting for a young woman, braver than anyone has any right to ask her to be, who dared to raise her voice above the tears that the memories of her captors spurred.
And I’m humbled to say that I learned that firsthand from these inspiring people. Some were driven from their homes in Cameroon. Others crossed the border from Nigeria to the Far North in Maroua where I met them. They all brought the same message: we need help.
This isn’t to say that they aren’t grateful for what they have received. Never have I seen people who have so little, be so grateful for the people and institutions working to improve their lives. Not least in this case, the government of Cameroon and United Nations agencies like UNICEF and the UN Refugee Agency.
But still they came to us in further need. They need education for their children and arable land to plant crops. They need the most basic of items to ensure their continued survival. They need water. They need safety.
This is precisely the reason I have led the Security Council here. To give these people a voice and to drive donors to their cause. In short, to shine a light on a neglected crisis.
Most reading this may never have heard of the Lake Chad Basin. If you were looking at satellite images, the name may seem a bit odd. Lake Chad, once the center of life for the people of the region, has shrunk by 90% since the 1970s.
Most of you won’t know that Boko Haram has exploited the uncertainty that accompanied this killing 20,000 and subjecting 7,000 women and girls to kidnap and sexual violence. You won’t know that 2.3 million people have been displaced. I can’t overestimate the staggering nature of these facts nor underestimate the power the global community has to change them.
But today isn’t about statistics. Diplomats can get caught up in stats. The bigger they are, the more shock value they can carry.
For me, today was about two boys.
They are heroic beyond measure. There’s no other way to say it.The first had his village in Nigeria stormed by Boko Haram. They found and killed boys just like him. He managed to escape only to be held in prison for fear of terrorist links. He was 13 years old. I met the 15 year old version of himself today. You could see just how weary he is from the indescribable look on his face.
The other boy was 14. He was kidnapped when he was about 10. He must have been stronger than any 10 year old I know though, because he found a way to escape and has been living away from his family in an internally displaced persons camp since 2014.
And somehow after all of this, they sat down with a group of foreign ambassadors from places they probably haven’t heard of. Bordered by photographers and guards armed with machine guns. And opened up to us.
If we don’t tell their story, nobody will.
And that’s who we’re fighting for.
