The growing human cost of Niger’s hunger emergency can be seen in the dwindling frame of nine-month-old Karima.
Over the last four months she has lost half her body weight, coinciding with the failed harvest in this southern Dosso region of the country.
In recent weeks her condition has worsened and her mother, 25-year-old Dayaba, has brought Karima to Soukoukoutane health centre after a long journey by foot which began the previous day.
‘I feel weak and I have no breast milk for my baby which makes her cry,’ said Dayaba.
NEW YORK, États-Unis, 21 mai 2012 - Comme les agences humanitaires s'alarment d'un manque important de financement pour faire face à la crise au Sahel, l'acteur et Ambassadeur de l'UNICEF, Ewan McGregor, a joint sa voix à tous ceux qui appellent à accentuer l'aide dans cette région.
Deux villages du Nord du pays ont été pillés et entièrement livrés aux flammes par un groupe armé provenant du Tchad, indiquent les premières reconstitutions des faits disponibles, rapportées par les radios locales. Trois personnes auraient péri dans les attaques contre Bafondo et Gofo, dans la région de Batangafo, à 400 kilomètres environ de la capitale Bangui.
Save the Children welcomes the announcement by Minister Carr to increase humanitarian aid to the Sahel region of West Africa where 13 million people are at risk of severe hunger.
The announcement lifts the Australian Government’s aid package to humanitarian relief organisations responding to the West Africa food crisis to $20 million, still way short of the $128 million contributed by the Australian Government to help tackle last year’s food crisis on the other side of the continent in the Horn of Africa.
21 May, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s Interior Minister Ibrahim Ahmad Mahmoud has revealed that their estimates on the number of Sudanese refugees in neighboring countries are vastly different from those of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
Speaking at a session of the council of states in the capital Khartoum on Monday, Mahmoud said that his ministry estimates the number of Sudanese refugees in neighboring countries to be in the region of 244,000.
The following pages contain an analysis of each country affected by the Sahel food crisis. For each country, the context is outlined along with an overview of the current situation. Then the Red Cross Red Crescent presence and activity is provided, followed by the capacities, ongoing actions and plans of the national Red Cross or Red Crescent society.
NEW YORK, USA, 21 May 2012 – As aid agencies warn of a major funding shortage for the crisis in the Sahel, actor and UNICEF Ambassador Ewan McGregor has added his voice to those calling for more help for the region.
March 2012: Actor and UNICEF Ambassador Ewan McGregor delivers a public service announcement appealing for aid for children affected by the Sahel food crisis.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s announcement of $16 million of funding to respond to the escalating humanitarian crises in West Africa and South Sudan comes at a critical time for the region, CARE Australia said today.
CARE Australia CEO Dr Julia Newton-Howes said more than 22 million people were affected by the worsening food crises in West Africa and South Sudan.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced today that Australia will contribute an additional $16 million in much needed food and emergency medical assistance to respond to two major escalating crises in Africa.
Senator Carr said the money will assist millions of people affected by drought, local conflict, and the collapse of local markets.
"The food crises in West Africa and South Sudan are escalating at an alarming rate," Senator Carr said.
· Humanitarian agencies continue to negotiate for full access to northern Mali to ensure aid reaches populations in need. On May 16, the Ansar Dine militant group allowed a humanitarian convoy carrying food and medical assistance to reach Tombouctou city, according to international media. In addition, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) reported that 31.5 metric tons of emergency food assistance—sufficient to benefit approximately 7,800 conflict-affected individuals—recently arrived in Gao, Kidal, and Tombouctou regions in northern Mali.
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2012. The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors today approved US$34.2 million to help rural communities and organizations in Chad increase agricultural and livestock production, while developing sustainable land and water management practices in climate-vulnerable ecosystems.
N'DJAMENA, Tchad, le 8 mai 2012 - « C'est arrivé une nuit d'avril », explique Annour. « Notre enfant a été pris de vomissements et de diarrhées à répétition. Nous lui avons donné de l'eau, en pensant que ça passerait, mais ça a continué. Au centre de santé du village, personne ne savait de quoi il s'agissait, c'est pourquoi le lendemain matin nous avons décidé de l'emmener à l'hôpital de N'Djamena. Mais il est mort en chemin ».
À l'hôpital, les agents sanitaires ont expliqué l'origine du décès du fils d'Annour.
Insécurité alimentaire critique (phase 3) dans une grande partie de la bande sahélienne
Ce bulletin spécial fait la synthèse des travaux de la Cellule Régionale d’analyse du Cadre Harmonisé qui se sont déroulés du 2 au 6 avril à Niamey.
Trois (3) pays font face à une situation difficile, la Mauritanie, le Mali et le Tchad où se combinent des facteurs négatifs d’ordre naturel et socio-politique.
“Unless vaccines are simplified so that they’re better adapted to real-life conditions, we will never get on top of these killer diseases and will always need to respond to outbreaks that we haven’t managed to prevent through effective immunisation programmes.” Dr. Michel Quéré MSF medical advisor for Niger, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo
A review of emergency Supplementary Feeding Programmes (SFPs) was undertaken in 2005/2006, which concluded that such programmes which are targeted to already Moderately Acutely Malnourished (MAM) children may be ineffective in treating and preventing this MAM in certain contexts . One recommendation was to study alternatives to targeted SFPs, such as an ‘extended’ General Food Distribution rations, ‘blanket’ SFPs (SFPs not targeted to MAM children, instead given to all children of a certain age group) with different fortified nutrition supplements, and cash transfers.
May 16, 2012 - Los Angeles, Calif. – International Medical Corps will immediately scale up its support to the government of Chad in polio eradication activities through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
