Lack Of Funding Threatens Response To Crisis In Niger

Lack Of Funding Threatens Response To Crisis In Niger, West Africa, Warns Save The Children

05 April 2012

Early intervention could make a dramatic difference to the worsening hunger crisis in Niger, where the opportunity to act to save lives is shrinking by the day, according to Save the Children. The aid agency warns that the crisis will turn into a catastrophe unless millions worth of extra funding is secured from the international community.

More than 6 million people in Niger are already in need of urgent assistance with over 13 million across the wider Sahel region of West Africa also facing a hunger crisis.

Save the Children New Zealand is giving $50,000 to assist children affected by the West Africa Food Crisis and is appealing to New Zealanders to support its Children’s Emergency fund.

We have a matter of weeks to stop this situation from spiralling out of control. Children’s needs are already urgent and are growing fast.

“In spite of the generosity of some donors, including the New Zealand Government who pledged $1 million for food aid, the overall response from the international community has not been big enough,” said Save the Children New Zealand CEO Liz Gibbs.

“Unless we get more money on the ground we won’t be able to expand our response quickly, which we know from past experience is absolutely critical. In a crisis like this, we race against time to save lives. By supporting our Children’s Emergency Fund, New Zealanders can help us get vital resources and support to children and families in need,” said Ms Gibbs.

Save the Children staff in Niger have met families who are resorting to mixing wild leaves into their food to make it go further in a desperate attempt to feed themselves. In parts of the country, families saw drought claim 80% of their crops.

The crisis is due to a combination of crop failure and sharp rises in the cost of staple foods. Instability in neighbouring countries is driving refugees over the borders into Niger, creating further challenges.

Save the Children is working in Niger running feeding centres, health clinics and helping people to buy food and water. The agency plans to reach 1.3m people, including 780,000 children.

Earlier this year, Save the Children published a report showing how a slow response to the East African food crisis in 2011 led to tens of thousands more deaths and millions of dollars of extra spending. The same will happen again unless donors learn the lessons of the past and provide adequate funding for a quicker response.

Statistics

• Niger has one of the worst child survival rates in the world – one in six children don’t live to see their fifth birthday. Half of these deaths are linked to malnutrition.
• Niger is the second least-developed country in the world and more than 60% of the population live below the international poverty line, surviving on less than 80p a day.
• There are only two nurses or midwives for every 10,000 people.
Save the Children’s response

• We are currently working in three regions in Niger: (Maradi, Zinder and Diffa).
• In 2011 through food and livelihood support, Save the Children reached over 250,000 vulnerable children and adults in Niger to stop them falling into crisis, but we need to reach more families as quickly as possible.
• The organisation plans to reach 1.3 million of the most vulnerable people in Niger alone in 2012 (including 780,000 children).
• Save the Children will deliver a package of aid, including health care, child protection and nutrition across West Africa. Counties in the Sahel region of West Africa currently affected are: Niger, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Resources

Save the Children and Oxfam 2011 report on the East Africa crisis A Dangerous Delay:
http://www.savethechildren.org.nz/assets/494/Dangerous%20Delay%20HOA%20drought.pdf

ENDS

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