With Plan's support and aid, communities now have enough food to feed their families

27 February, 2012: Armed attacks by rebels in northern Mali have led to a large influx of families escaping to Niger, many to the bordering region of Tillabéri, an area which is already undergoing a severe food crisis caused by crop failure and low rainfall.

Earlier this month Plan Niger, together with the local authorities, arranged for the distribution of essential food and non-food items for those families who fled from Mali and who are now staying in the village of Gaoudel in Tillabéri. More than 300 households, some 2000 people in total, received supplies of millet, rice, oil and beans.

As children are always the most vulnerable at times of crisis, Plan Niger also distributed blankets and mosquito nets to some of the youngest family members.

According to Aissata, a refugee from Dabaga in Mali: "I left my village to move here because of insecurity in our country. I was in Niger for two weeks with my six children in my care. I had nothing to feed them but with the help of Plan Niger, I can now meet our nutritional needs for at least two weeks.”

Hazara, aged 18 with 1 child, said: “I left Labzanga, my village in Mali, to come here 10 days ago.  As my husband moved to Nigeria 7 months ago, I travelled with my in-laws because of insecurity in the country and the risk of aggression from armed rebels who have settled in our community. We moved without food but I think with the help that I have just received from Plan Niger I'll eat my fill for a month.”

Plan’s support for the refugees in Tillabérri will help to reduce the additional pressure on local food sources as well as prevent the likelihood of a serious health crisis should more people flee due to the conflict which looks increasingly likely.

With bad weather drying out crops, food insecurity continues to loom in Niger

20 February, 2012: The aid effort to ward off severe hunger in Niger is being complicated by the large influx of Malians escaping fighting in northern Mali. Over 20,000 refugees are now in the Tillaberi region which borders northern Mali - out of that group over 2000 people have reached communities where Plan is working - a region where many inhabitants are already facing severe food insecurity and malnutrition.

Plan is presently providing aid – food and non-food items - to just over 1000 people from 162 families who arrived last week from Mali and who are living in very difficult circumstances in the northern part of Tillaberi.

With the return additionally of some 200,000 migrant workers from Libya and Côte d’Ivoire last year, communities are being pushed to the brink as already reduced food supplies now have to stretch even further.

During the “hungry season” in the past in Niger, usually April to November, malnutrition rates - especially in young children - rise with a peak in June. But, according to Dr D. Saley, head of Tillaberi’s intensive therapeutic feeding centre, the peak is expected to occur as early as April this year given that many families have no more than a month’s supply of food to last them until the next rainy season. Cases of malnutrition are already appearing in the region: 1216 cases of moderate acute malnutrition were recorded in 26 villages in Tillaberi in January 2012.

Later this month, Plan is sending a team of forty health workers to 120 villages in Tillaberi, kitted out with screening equipment to identify severe malnutrition in young children.  During these initial screenings, children categorized as moderately malnourished and those who are severely malnourished without complications will be sent to health centre and health huts to be treated with food enhanced with nutrients and vitamins given by Plan. Severely malnourished children with complications will be directed to the feeding centre for intensive treatment, with the financial and technical support of Plan Niger.

Over the coming months, Plan's priorities will be to help build communities’ resilience through reinforcing existing livelihoods and to provide assistance to affected children and their families through school feeding and food distribution programmes.  Other initiatives will continue to focus on sustainable gardening and agriculture, drought resistant crop cultivation, grain banks, microfinance and nutritional centres for mothers and babies.

Read more Plan news on food insecurity in Niger

Houses were destroyed and families left homeless

October 6, 2011: Heavy rains and storms caused intense and flash flooding in the Tillaberi district, just two hours from Niamey, the capital of Niger. Plan has been working to help the families and children of Anzourou and Dessa townships which suffered extensive damage leaving more than 1,186 households with 1,703 children without proper shelter and access to food and water.

“The water moved fast and caused destruction, collapsing houses, washing away fields and livestock, polluting our drinking water,” said Mr. Abdou Hama, 42, a resident who witnessed the floods.

Severe storms with torrential rains hit the region starting on August 12, with a break in the weather coming two days later. The communities most affected are extremely poor and under-developed with agriculture based economies. Thus the impact of the disaster will be felt now, and at the next harvest when damaged crops do not produce the expected yields.

Response

Plan in Niger has been quick to respond providing relief to residents. Working in cooperation with the Nigerian Government, Plan assisted in a targeted free distribution of food (63 tonnes of grain) and 1,000 mosquito nets to protect families from the heightened threat of malaria.

Local residents expressed their gratitude to Plan and other agencies responding on the ground for the quick and appropriate relief.

Ms. Aissata Djibo commented after receiving her distribution, “This support has really come at the right time. The amount that I have just received will enable me to feed my family for a while, stopping the suffering we have experienced in recent days. "

Plan will continue to meet the immediate disaster-caused needs of the flood victims while designing and implementing programmes to improve the lomg-term well-being of children in the region.

The IMAGINE Project represents the young girls’ education component of the Threshold Programme funded by the U.S. government through the MCC and implemented in seven regions across Niger: Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Tahoua, Tillaberi and Zinder. The IMAGINE Project was executed by a consortium lead by Plan that included Counterpart International, Aide et Action and VIE as implementing NGO partners.

Each school complex includes: three equipped classrooms, two polyvalent spaces, two blocks of two latrines, accommodation for three female teachers, a kindergarten (awakening centre) and a clean water facility. In addition to providing school supplies (books and stationery) the project supports school management committees and Parents Associations by providing various trainings. Teachers also receive instruction to update their skills.

Initially planned as a 3-year project, IMAGINE was abruptly and prematurely suspended after two years due to political contingencies that have called for a constitutional amendment in 2009 to allow the incumbent President stay in power beyond the two-term limit.

However, even during this shortened period, the project made tremendous construction achievements with 91% of school complexes (62 out of 68 planned) and 72% of modern water points (49 out of 68 planned) completed. The total budget of the grant was US $18 million.

After the unexpected closure of IMAGINE, many schools while built were not yet equipped. Plan managed to consolidate the gains carried by the project by providing school equipment including class tables and other furniture. Plan raised funds and equipped 55 school complexes (160 classes) with class tables, 55 kindergartens will soon be equipped with toys and furniture and 340 members of schools management committees will be trained on infrastructure maintenance.

Increased school enrolment is another success of the IMAGINE Project, particularly for girls. According to the final evaluation, girls enrolment rates were improved by 31.5 % at the national level. One success story is the Maradi region: 32,581 girls were enrolled in 2008-2009, in 2009-2010 that number climbed to 47,735. This represents an increase of 31.7% after only one year of the project. 

The MCC officials were visiting the schools to assess the situation and guide the resumption of the programmes following the recent fair elections organised in Niger and the progressive installation of democratic institutions.

Addressing the population of Sogassa Karsani, MCC Vice President James Park expressed his satisfaction for the job well done by IMAGINE and commended the NGO Consortium lead by Plan for the exceptional work completed in record time. He has expressed the commitment of his organisation to assist people and fight against illiteracy and poverty. Community members and leaders followed by the government representatives lauded the MCC intervention and called for more assistance in the education sector.

Read more about what Plan Niger does in education

Plan Niger Country Director awarding volunteers

4 May 2011: On 23 March in Dosso and Tillaberi Programme Units, Plan Niger celebrated first edition of Community Volunteer Day.

“The main purpose of this event is to recognize the merits of our volunteers as they represent the link between Plan and communities where we intervene,” explained Rheal Drisdelle, Plan Niger Country Director.

Rewards

Within the framework of the event, Plan awarded the most committed volunteers in three categories. The first category was dedicated to the oldest volunteer- Mr. Yayé Harouna known as “Ancien,” who has been collaborating with Plan for more than 10 years. The second prize was awarded to Mr. Yayé Seyni in the category of “the best photographer”. Seyni is also very popular amongst communities and considered as “a children sponsor.” The prize in the third category was granted to Mrs. Fati Zakari, a housewife, who despite her family duties travels regularly to communities to sensitize women on Plan’s programmes. In Tillaberi unit volunteers also received badges and certificates.

“Our volunteers are hard-working and make a valuable contribution far from media spotlights. For that reason Plan Niger decided to establish Community Volunteer Day to inform communities about the importance of their work and to celebrate values that guide their action: selfless commitment, sacrifice and search for excellence,” concluded Rheal.

Throughout a day of celebration in Dosso and Tillabery, volunteers performed sketches and drama presenting their daily work. They also used the event to convince parents to support Plan in the selection process of sponsoring children. 

Read more about Plan's work in Niger.

Plan Niger Country Director (on the left) with a copy of the 2010 "Because I am a Girl" report

15 March 2011: On 25th February, in Niamey, the capital of Niger, Plan Niger officially launched the 2010 “Because I am a Girl” (BIAAG) report on the situation of girls worldwide.

“The BIAAG report, published annually since 2007, reflects the lives of girls and monitors the respect for their rights. The 2010 report’s theme "New Technologies and Cities in Transition: Risks and Opportunities" illustrates both the huge opportunities offered to girls by technologies in training and developing their potential but also the dangers they create for this vulnerable group,” said Rheal Drisdelle, Plan Niger Country Director.

The launching ceremony was led by Mrs Aminatou Takoubakoye Boureima, Minister of Communication, New Information Technologies and Culture.

“The discoveries and technological advances improve the lives of girls but may carry risks. However, these risks should not deprive girls of the opportunities offered by technology and urbanization,” commented Aminatou and pledged to create a "legal and institutional framework for fight against cybercrime to protect children."

The launching ceremony of the report gathered representatives of public services, UN, other NGOs, media and Plan Niger staff. The event ended with the presentation of the content of the 2010 report and the prospects of Plan global BIAAG campaign which starts in 2012 and finishes in 2015.

Read more about Plan's work in Niger.

Counsellors running psychosocial support sessions in flood- affected villages

Plan Niger has completed the training of 16 specialist counsellors to help provide psychosocial support for children in emergencies. The trainees include university graduates, government officials, members of Plan staff and other Children's Rights NGOs.

The training was organized  after the floods along the Niger River displaced hundreds of families to relocation sites around Niger’s capital, Niamey.

Receiving support

As part of the training, the counselors visited flood- affected children and involved them in activities and simple games to gain their trust. The activities helped the children  to enjoy themselves while coming to terms with the effects of the disaster on their lives.

After the training, the children’s mothers also joined their offspring during the play and were pleased to see that the kids have started to forget the stressful event they have experienced.

“If it’s too dull, our children start thinking back to the flood,” said one mother.

The strategy proves successful because many parents and counsellors were satisfied that the children stayed in the sites during the day - as before, they would return to their flooded neighbourhoods.

“A house without children is not a home, so we have to take care of them,” said one of the mothers.

Overcoming difficulties

However, the counsellors-in-training were not able to provide full psychosocial support.  Teenagers complain about their situation - they are not content with the location and feel embarrassed when their friends find them at the sites. More in-depth support is needed to fully address the shock experienced by children during the disaster and relocation.

Niger’s government and NGOs reacted quickly to meet the immediate basic needs of the displaced people, but many children reported that the only emotional support they received came informally from neighbours.

Prospective training

Children involved in activities can forget traumatic events faster

Plan’s training of psychosocial support specialists expanded the range of child protection services in Niger. The activities involving psychosocial assessment, like focus groups and individual interviews with children in the relocated sites, helped the counsellors to gain practical experience. Never before has Niger had such specialists available, and many other West African countries still lack this expertise.

With food in their stomachs, Nigeriens can return to their fields

06 September 2010: Plan Niger has been distributing nearly 3,500 tonnes of food in Dosso and Tillabéri since late July to help combat the country’s acute food insecurity and allow people to work their fields.

This food is now reaching over 200,000 people, most of whom have for months been resorting to severe coping strategies, such as searching for wild leaves, to survive.

“When you’re hungry, the work is just painful,” says Adamou Gado, a farmer from Dosso city with 24 people to support. He received 400 kg of maize from Plan. “Now it will be better – if you’re not hungry, farming is easy”.

National response

The crisis stems from a poor harvest due to irregular rains and dry spells during the 2009 agricultural season, combined with late planting in many areas and failure of seeds to germinate in others.

But Plan and the World Food Programme brought in over 4,500 tonnes of maize from neighbouring Benin in 2 rounds of distribution. This food allowed us to expand our aid to more people than originally targeted, and each person is receiving about 14kg of food.

Much more is needed, however, and Niger is just now entering the worst period of the year for shortages on food.

Energy to farm

Although most of Niger’s largely rural population has begun planting and tending their fields again now that this year’s rainy season is underway, hunger has been making the labour-intensive fieldwork even more difficult.

But people receiving aid now can tend their fields properly and work to avoid a repeat of food shortages next year - now is the most important time to act to break the cycle of vulnerability. 

Satou Hassane and her 3 children, from Kountuday village near Dosso, received 50 kg. “I’m an old woman, and I have to do work in the fields.  We planted okra, peanuts and sesame. But it’s so hard when you’re hungry!” In Niger, most people tend their fields by hand.

Adamou, left, helps a fellow community member with a sac of cereal

Dependant on rains

Overall, the rains look promising so far: “If the rain continues as it has been, we’ll get a good crop, enough for the next year,” said Adamou.

But the harvest is still 2 months away, and everything depends on continued rains until then.

All 5 girls were around 15 when they were exploited by the troupe

Justice is often hard to come by in Niger, where few have access to lawyers and official courts. But a lawsuit against 2 child traffickers, supported by Plan, has brought justice to 5 Nigerien girls. 

Exploitation

The girls, around 15 years old at the time, had been subjected to economic and sexual exploitation by one of Niger’s Dandali’n Soyeyya or “Love Songs” troupes. These troupes provide actresses for music videos in films from neighbouring Nigeria that are seen by many in Niger. On the surface, it would seem a golden opportunity for young Nigerien girls.

In reality, the troupes inflict economic and often sexual exploitation on the girls, taking them to Nigeria to make the films.  

“After each performance,” says one of the girls, “[the troupe’s bosses] would pocket the fees, and wouldn’t even give us anything to eat. They told us to fend for ourselves.” In Niger, girls that have to support themselves have no choice other than prostitution.  

Plan hires lawyer

Fortunately, before this troupe could be trafficked to Nigeria, they were spotted by officials from Niger’s branch of CONAFE, the coalition of African NGOs working with children. They informed the authorities, who acted quickly to arrest the troupe’s bosses.

Plan hired a lawyer for the girls in Niger. He based his case not only on Nigerien law, but also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by the Government of Niger in 1990. A guilty verdict was given on 29th June, and the 2 bosses each received a 6 month suspended sentence and a 50,000CFA ($100 US) fine. 

This time the penalty was lenient; the girls were lucky to be freed from exploitation. But many others fall victim to child traffickers such as the Dandali’n Soyeyya bosses. These troupes are well known in Nigeria, where the films are made, for exploiting girls from Niger and fuelling prostitution. 

Improving child protection

But in Niger, many are ignorant of the reality of this exploitation, and the bosses can trick girls into joining, playing off the allure of richer Nigeria and the popularity of the films.

Plan Niger has therefore begun efforts at lobbying Niger’s government to improve legal protection, and the legal system, for children, and helped write the Children’s Code for Niger.

In the early 2000’s, Plan invested in and strengthened the capacity of CONAFE, allowing it to develop into the international organisation it is today. After the trial, CONAFE provided the girls with support for their reintegration into society, from vocational training to re-entry into school.

Villagers picking leaves for food. For some people in Niger it is all they have to eat

15 April 2010: Plan is stepping up its efforts to avert the worst of a looming food crisis in drought hit Niger.

According to the United Nations, 7,800,000 Nigeriens - almost 60% of the country’s population - are facing moderate to severe food shortages due to poor rains and insufficient harvests.

This week, Plan released US$200,000 for the emergency from our disaster response fund – but much more is needed.

Please make a donation to the Niger emergency appeal today.

Race against time

The Niger Government and the World Food Programme have given Plan more than 1,000 tonnes of food aid which we are distributing to 73,000 severely vulnerable people in 118 communities across our Tillabéri programme unit.

Rheal Drisdelle, Plan Niger’s country director, said: “We are not dealing with a catastrophe now, we are dealing with a serious crisis. However, it is only since the recent coup d’etat that NGOs and the UN system have been able to mobilise publicly and we have missed out on 3 or 4 vital months of preparatory work.

“We now hope that there will be enough time and financial resources available to help us avert the worst.”

In pictures

Watch a slideshow on the Niger food crisis narrated by Rheal, who explains the issues people face and how Plan's relief effforts will also focus on the long term needs of communities.

Make a donation to the Niger emergency appeal today.

Find out more about Plan’s work in Niger.