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Highlights
- In 2025, Niger continued to face a convergence of insecurity, flooding, and disease outbreaks, driving large-scale humanitarian needs. Violence and climate shocks displaced 459,585 people, including 60 per cent children, while floods affected 77,506 households1, destroying 60,388 homes and severely disrupting education infrastructure. Malnutrition remained at critical levels (GAM 11.1%, SAM 2.8%)2, exacerbated by recurrent disease outbreaks and limited access to basic services, particularly in Tillabéri, Tahoua, Dosso, and Diffa.
- Ongoing insecurity continued to generate sudden population movements, with Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) actors recording 102 displacement alerts, affecting over 27,000 households (more than 170,000 people)3. RRM partners conducted 149 multisectoral needs assessments, enabling timely assistance.
- Despite operational and financial challenges, UNICEF sustained critical interventions across health, nutrition, WASH, education, and child protection. Nationwide measles and meningitis vaccination campaigns reached over four million people. A total of 453,903 children under five (including 226,494 girls) with severe wasting were admitted for treatment across 1,365 health facilities, including 67,939 cases with medical complications. In parallel, 273,081 people gained access to safe drinking water, while education interventions over 140,000 children.
- Humanitarian response was significantly constrained by access challenges and a severe funding shortfall, with 79 per cent of the US$101 million 2025 appeal unmet. In this context, UNICEF prioritized strengthened collaboration with national and local authorities and humanitarian partners to reinforce crisis response capacity, recognizing government leadership and coordinated partnerships as essential enablers of life-saving assistance amid shrinking resources.
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SITUATION OVERVIEW AND HUMANITARIAN NEEDS
In 2025, Niger continued to face a complex humanitarian crisis driven by persistent insecurity, climate-related shocks, and recurrent disease outbreaks, with severe consequences for children. The regions of Tillabéri, Diffa, Maradi, Tahoua, Zinder, and Dosso remained the most affected. Ongoing violence along the borders with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria resulted in widespread displacement, with 459,585 people9 forcibly displaced, out of which 60 per cent are children, disrupting access to basic services and increasing exposure to malnutrition, exploitation, and protection risks. Humanitarian response remained constrained by access limitations and chronic underfunding.
Severe flooding in 2025 compounded vulnerabilities, affecting 77,506 households10 (585,859 people) and destroying 60,388 homes11 .The floods caused 27 deaths, injured 232 people, and left thousands of children affected by physical (1,567) and psychological trauma (19,700). Damage to social infrastructure was extensive, including 1,122 schools (607 collapsed classrooms)12 , 564 sanitation facilities, four health centres, and critical water infrastructure, while 316 classrooms were used as temporary shelters, disrupting education for 26,235 students. Although rehabilitation efforts are ongoing, recovery needs remain substantial.
Food insecurity and malnutrition continued at alarming levels. The 2025 SMART/SENS survey reported GAM at 11.1 per cent and SAM at 2.8 per cent, above WHO emergency thresholds, with Diffa (17.1 per cent) and parts of Maradi and Zinder in critical condition. According to the November 2025 Harmonized Framework, 1.86 million people were in IPC Phase 3+, projected to rise to 2.42 million during the 2026 lean season. The IPC AMN 2025–2026 projects 1.6 million children acutely malnourished in 2026, including 410,021 with SAM, with 10 areas expected in Phase 4 (Critical) during the rainy season. Despite an overall adequate 2025 harvest, displacement, high food prices, disease burden, and economic pressures continue
Public health risks remained high due to concurrent disease outbreaks. Since January 2025, over 6.5 million13 suspected cases of priority diseases were reported, with 2,832 deaths. Malaria accounted for the largest burden, including 123,270 cases among pregnant women, while outbreaks of measles, meningitis, diphtheria (1,783 cases and 115 deaths, resulting in a mortality rate of 6.45%), and neonatal tetanus (with 13 cases and 2 deaths), cholera (10 cases) further strained an overstretched health system, disproportionately affecting children and women.
In June 2025, UNICEF reprioritized its humanitarian response in line with ERC guidance and UN 80 initiatives, reflecting sharply diminished funding prospects rather than reduced needs. UNICEF and partners reduced targeted reach by over 700,000 people, including 400,000 children (22 per cent), while prioritizing life-saving interventions in the highest-severity regions. Nutrition targets were largely preserved, and education support focused on equitable access for girls, children with disabilities, and displaced children. However, funding for cross-sectoral programming declined sharply (from US$10.8 million to US$2.2 million), leading to the suspension of humanitarian cash transfers and the scaling back of social and behavior change, institutional frameworks and shock-responsive social protection programmes.
As of December 2025, the Humanitarian Response Plan remained severely underfunded, leaving critical gaps in shelter, WASH, protection, and education, and significantly limiting the ability to scale up timely, life-saving assistance for children at greatest risk.