Attachments
Highlights
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The continued presence of Non-State Armed Group members over Tillaberi and Diffa regions remained the main cause of instability and insecurity in Niger. Known and unknown entities staged asymmetric attacks targeting civilians in Diffa and Tillaberi regions but also military positions.
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Humanitarian sites came under attack in Diffa region as Non-State Armed Group members looted a brick construction site intended for refugees and seized equipment and food items necessary for survival.
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Insecurity continue to create challenges to child protection interventions in various areas of Diffa. During the month, 19 children (including five girls) aged 12 to 17 years old were kidnapped by suspected Non-State Armed Group members in Gueskerou and Kablewa communes.
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The Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) recorded 11 alerts on displacement of people following non-state armed groups attacks and conducted 11 rapid assessments (4 multi-sector assessments, 5 rapid protection assessments and 2 flash assessment) in the Diffa, Tahoua, Tillaberi and Maradi regions. RRM actors also provided NFI assistance to approximately 1,673 displaced households for 10,759 beneficiaries.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
Humanitarian Needs Overview: The 2020 Humanitarian Response Plan was revised in July: 3.7 million people in Niger are estimated to be in need humanitarian assistance, including about 2 M children. The needs analysis shows the persistence of five major crises affecting the country: food insecurity, malnutrition, epidemics including COVID-19 outbreak, floods and population movements due to conflict or migration. According to this revised version of the 2020 HRP, 2.2 million people (+27%) are targeted for non-COVID-19 response with an updated budget of 433.8 M USD (+8%). The food Security sector increased target and budget by 33%; other sectors with a major increase in people targeted are protection, nutrition and shelter/NFI and health. The revised HRP also includes an amount of 82.3 M USD for COVID-19 response (66.6 M USD for health activities) for a new HRP total budget of 516.1 M USD. The COVID-19 HRP targets 3.1 M people in the country.
In partnership with government and NGOs, UNICEF continues to provide multisectoral and coordinated assistance to affected population, both through an emergency approach to assist the most vulnerable populations immediately after a shock, and through longer terms interventions to guarantee durable solutions.
Tillaberi and Tahoua: Access remains very limited due to continuous insecurity, to a cumbersome civil-military coordination process; field missions are frequently cancelled due to incidents and/or non-state armed groups activities. Lack of access is slowing down program implementation.
Diffa: The presence of several active non-state armed groups and the multiplication of their actions, especially against civilians, suggest that the situation in the area will continue to deteriorate in the next months.
COVID-19 pandemic : Following the confirmation of the first positive case of COVID-19 on March 19th, 2020 in the capital city Niamey, UNICEF has been working closely with the Government and its partners to step up the response and prevent further proliferation of the COVID-19 virus in the country, already facing the consequences of multiple crisis (nutrition, conflicts, natural disasters). As of the end of the reporting period, Niger registered 1,136 cases of COVID-19, 1,028 patients healed, 69 deaths and a lethality rate of 6.08%. The number of confirmed cases among health care providers was 186, with only 2 new cases since last reporting period.