The file photo shows that 15-year-old Nigerian refugee Fati, carries her eight month old sister at the Minawao refugee camp in Northern Cameroon, April 5, 2016. (UNICEF/Handout via REUTERS )

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations and its humanitarian partners in Nigeria are asking for 848 million U.S. dollars to fund one year of a program in support of the government and countries hosting Nigerian displaced and refugees, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday.

"The UN and humanitarian partners launched a three-year Humanitarian Response Strategy covering 2019-2021, which, for 2019 alone, asks 848 million U.S. dollars in funding," the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters at a regular briefing.

"This strategy was launched together with the Nigeria Regional Refugee Response Plan, which seeks 135 million dollars; both plans are in support of the government of Nigeria and countries hosting Nigerian refugees," he said.

Aid groups in Nigeria aim to reach 6.2 million vulnerable people who have been hit the hardest by the decade-long crisis between non-state armed groups and government forces in Nigeria's northeast, Dujarric said.

According to the United Nations, 1.8 million people are internally displaced in Nigeria alone, and 228,500 people are refugees in neighboring countries.

Since 2009, the northeast of Nigeria has been in civil conflict triggered by armed opposition groups.

The conflict has spilled over borders across the whole Lake Chad region, resulting in widespread displacement, violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, and protection risks for increasing numbers of civilians.