Benin

Elsie Assogba /PNUD Benin and Latifou Dakin /VNU

We have only one well that provides water to the whole village. During the dry season, each household can carry only a 30-litre basin of water for three days. Sometimes, we have to go right to Savalou, kilometres away to do our laundry and bring back a can of water.”

Angèle Zodjilou, a mother of five, recounts the ordeals of women in Tatonougo village, in the central hills region of Benin.

Highlights

• The Government of Benin and WFP country office signed a four-year funds transfer agreement of XAF 27.2 billion, to implement school meals programme in 1,574 schools through an integrated approach.

• WFP in collaboration with the National Institute of Statistic and Applied Economics is conducting the third edition of the national survey on the Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA).

Highlights

• On 2 May, a delegation from Saudi Arabia visited Benin for the donation ceremony of 30 tons of dates to WFP supported school meals programme.

• A total of 6,424 mt of food commodities are being delivered in Niger through the supply corridor of Benin.

• Food deliveries for the last quarter of the school year took place. WFP provides school meals to 101,297 children for 21 days instead of 55 during this last trimester.

Operational Updates

Vents violents, sécheresses prolongées, inondations : ce sont là les risques climatiques majeurs auxquels le Bénin est exposé en matière de changement climatique. Chaque année, plusieurs communes du pays subissent les inondations, mais la situation est particulière dans les communes lacustres de la Basse Vallée de l’Ouémé comme Aguégués, Sô-ava et Dangbo, où les populations vivent également des problèmes d’enclavement.

Entre 2015 et 2016, la région de l’Afrique de l’Ouest et le Sahel a connu des élections majeures qui se sont déroulées, dans la plus part des cas, d’une manière pacifique, crédibles selon les divers rapports des observateurs internationaux. Des pays comme le Benin, le Burkina Faso, le Cap Vert, la Gambie, le Ghana, la Guinée, le Niger, le Nigeria et le Togo sont désormais cités en exemple d’élections pacifiques et d’alternances démocratiques.

UN CALVAIRE QUOTIDIEN

L’eau potable est un élément essentiel au bien-être des populations. Et pourtant, la consommation domestique journalière des ménages dans certains milieux ruraux au Bénin ne dépasse guère 30 litres.

Angèle Zodjilou, mère de cinq enfants, raconte le calvaire que vivent les femmes du village de Tatonougo, dans la région des collines au centre du pays :

Cotonou, Benin, 16 June 2017 – In an effort to strengthen national consciousness and action towards ending child marriage, the Government of the Republic of Benin launched the AU Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa and commemorated the continental Day of the African Child under the theme, “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for Children in Africa: Accelerating Protection, Empowerment and Equal opportunity".

Highlights

• On 11 April, a high-level visit by Benin’s First Lady and the Director of Claudine Talon Foundation was conducted in the district of Ifangni lo learn more about WFP-supported school meals programme.

• The Ministry of Education organized on 26 and 27 April, the second Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) workshop with all stakeholders (including those benefiting from WFP’s support).

EDITORIAL

Chers partenaires,

Chers lecteurs du bulletin d’informations périodiques de l’OIM Bénin,

Permettez-moi, avant tout propos de vous présenter, à travers cette parution, les vœux les meilleurs pour cette nouvelle année.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation Alexander De Croo today signed two programmes in Benin, related to the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Belgium will be cooperating with UNICEF to help combat child marriages. With the support of our country, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will be setting up an information project aimed at young people and women, covering sexual education and sexual violence.

Le Vice-Premier Ministre et Ministre de la Coopération au Développement Alexander De Croo a signé aujourd'hui deux programmes visant à promouvoir le bien-être et les droits en matière de santé et droits sexuels et reproductifs. La Belgique collaborera avec l'UNICEF dans la lutte contre les mariages d'enfants. Le Fonds des Nations Unies pour la population (UNFPA) bénéficiera du soutien de notre pays dans la mise sur pied d'une action d'information sur l'éducation sexuelle et la violence sexuelle, à destination des jeunes et des femmes.

Highlights

• The Government through the Ministry of primary and basic education, in partnership with WFP Benin country office has organized the second edition of the African Schools Meals Day.

• The third and last food deliveries for the 2016/17 school year started on 10 march 2017 for three weeks. WFP provided school meals to 101,297 children for 21 days instead of 55.

Operational Updates

FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

• Above-average 2016 cereal harvests due to favourable rainfall during the cropping season

• Food prices are mostly stable, reflecting increased supplies from recent harvests

• About 22 000 people in need of urgent assistance for food

Above-average harvest gathered in 2016

Cotonou, 29 mars 2017. – Hier, 28 mars 2017 ont effectivement démarré les travaux du Forum sur la Couverture Santé Universelle (CSU) au Bénin. La Couverture Santé Universelle (CSU) vise à assurer à chacun l’accès aux services de santé de qualité dont il a besoin, en garantissant une protection financière de la population contre le risque de dépenses catastrophiques.

Cotonou, 27 mars 2017. - Du 28 au 30 mars 2017, se tiendra à la salle bleue du Palais des Congrès de Cotonou, le Forum sur la Couverture Santé Universelle (CSU) au Bénin.

La Couverture Santé Universelle (CSU) vise à assurer à chacun l’accès aux services de santé de qualité dont il a besoin, en garantissant une protection financière de la population contre le risque de dépenses catastrophiques. Elle est reconnue importante par la communauté internationale qui l’a insérée dans les cibles des objectifs de développement durable (ODD) à l’horizon 2030.

Highlights

• WFP country office received a delegation from Sofia University in Japan to visit Benin school meals programme.

• Food deliveries to schools ended on 28 February 2017. WFP provided school meals to 101,279 children for 26 days instead of a trimester.

• Since January 2017, the Country Programme is experiencing severe funding constraints.

WFP Assistance

Benin and Togo, exported from Benin

On 20 February 2017, the Ministry of Health of Benin notified WHO of a Lassa fever case in Tchaourou district, Borgou Department, Benin, close to the border with Nigeria. The case was a pregnant woman who was living in Nigeria (close to the border with Benin).

Cotonou, 07 Mars 2017.

Highlights

• Food deliveries to schools are underway. WFP will only be able to provide school meals to 101,279 children for 26 days instead of a trimester.

• In the framework of the "Innovations from the field: Gender Mainstreaming from the ground up" project WFP conducted a baseline survey on nutritional status among children aged 6 to 59 months and pregnant and nursing women in two villages of Karimama.

• From January 2017 onwards, the Country Programme will experience severe funding constraints.

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Foyer in Porto-Novo, the capital city of Benin, serves boys and girls in very complex situations, including youth who have been abandoned by their families, victims of abuse and those who are victims of forced marriages. The organization received funding from a donor through Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, to help support Salesian missionaries’ work with street children.