In Brief
Appeal target: CHF 305,000
(USD 248,000 or EUR 195,000);
Appeal coverage: 46%.
Annual Appeal: http://www.ifrc.org/docs/appeals/annual05/05AA031.pdf
Programme Update no. 1: http://www.ifrc.org/docs/appeals/annual05/05AA03101.pdf
Programme Update no. 2: http://www.ifrc.org/docs/appeals/annual05/05AA03102.pdf
This Annual Report reflects activities implemented over a one-year period; they form part of, and are based on, longer-term, multi-year planning.
Operational context
Niger is ranked 176 out of 177 countries in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) human development index. Only 48% of its 11 million people have access to health care, mostly those who live within 10 km of a health facility. Only 20% of the population has access to adequate sanitation facilities and 59% to potable water. In 2001, public expenditure on health was only 1.4% of the gross domestic product (GDP). (1)
The country suffers from frequent food shortages, drought and flooding. In addition, it is part of the meningitis belt and is one of the last countries that still have the wild polio virus, a threat which continued to menace the country even in 2004, despite three years of vaccination campaigns. This is mostly due to refusal to accept vaccinations by some members of the community.
According to the UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Niger has an adult HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 1.2 %. Many of the cases are migrant workers coming back from neighbouring countries that have higher prevalence rates. As a result of the conflict in the neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire, migrant workers have returned home Niger in high numbers, risking further spread of the disease to their partners. An increasing number of women are contracting HIV and passing it on to their unborn babies.
The 2004-2005 harvest in the Sahel region was seriously affected by the worst locust invasion in twenty years, compounded by low rainfalls. Crops were greatly reduced, as was the availability of grazing land in pastoralist areas. This resulted in serious food insecurity in a region already suffering from chronic malnutrition and endemic poverty. The 'lean' period or 'soudure', which occurs between April and October - when the harvest from the previous year has been exhausted and the current year's production is not yet ready - is always difficult in the Sahel, and proved particularly lengthy over 2005, leading in part to the food security crisis.
Due to serious food insecurity in the Sahel region, the attention of the Red Cross Society of Niger and the Red Cross/Red Crescent as a whole was on responding to the needs of the populations affected by the severe drought. In response to the situation, the International Federation launched an Emergency Appeal on 22 July 2005, for CHF 18,243,483, to assist 44,400 families (some 220,000 beneficiaries) in four countries in the Sahel region (for the Emergency Appeal, please refer to http://www.ifrc.org/docs/appeals/05/05EA015.pdf). Of the four countries suffering from food insecurity, Niger was the most affected - with over 2.6 million people estimated to have been at risk. Consequently, the response of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement to the food crisis in Sahel focused primarily on Niger
All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, please access the Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org
For further information specifically related to this Annual Appeal please contact:
In Niger: M.Aly Bandiaré, President, Red Cross Society of Niger, Niamey; Email: crniger@intnet.ne; Phone +227.73.30.37; Fax +227.73.24.61
In Senegal: Alasan Senghore, Federation Head of West and Central Africa Regional Delegation, Dakar; Email: alasan.senghore@ifrc.org; Phone +221.869.36.41; Fax +221. 860.20.02.
In Geneva: Madeleine Lundberg, Federation Regional Officer for West and Central Africa, Africa Dept; Email: madeleine.lundberg@ifrc.org; Phone +41.22.730.43.35; Fax +41.22.733.03. 95
Note: (1) UNDP, Human Development Index, 2004- http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2004/pdf/hdr04_HDI.pdf
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