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Niger

WFP Niger Country Brief, July 2021

Attachments

In Numbers

4,741.6 mt* of food distributed

USD 2.68 m* of cash-based transfers made

USD 43.16 m six months (August 2021 – January 2022) net funding requirements.

1.25 million* people assisted In June 2021

Strategic Updates

• On 12-13 July, WFP participated in the launch workshop for the elaboration of the new Social and Economic Development Plan (PDES 2022-2026), organized by the Ministry of Planning and supported by the Resident Coordinator Office (RCO). The PDES outlines the Government’s development priorities and constitutes the main guiding document for the stakeholders’ contributions to the Government’s development vision. Jointly through the UN System, WFP plans to actively support the Government in the elaboration of the document, which is expected to be finalized by December 2021. WFP will also support the UN Country Team in the elaboration of the new Common Country Assessment (CCA) and the UN Sustainable Development Framework.

• On 1 July 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and WFP launched the "Joint Sahel Programme in response to the Challenges of Climate Change, Conflict and Development (SD3C)" project.
Funded by IFAD, the objective of this six-year project (2021-2026) is to strengthen the resilience of the most vulnerable communities, by reinforcing the livelihoods of small-scale producers, particularly women and young people living in the cross-border areas of the Tillabery and Diffa regions. All 3 of the Rome-Based Agencies (RBAs) will support the implementation of the project.

Operational Updates

• Lean season response: Due to operational issues, the pastoral lean season distributions (April-June) were completed in July. WFP assisted 75,000 people with threemonths of unconditional food and cash distributions. From the second week of July, WFP planned to assist 240,000 people for the agricultural lean season response. Due to operational delays linked to funding and procurement constraints, the beneficiaries are currently receiving cumulative distributions for June and July. Under the protracted crisis, through which WFP provides year-long unconditional food assistance for beneficiaries in conflict-affected areas and in the Framework of the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), WFP initially planned to assist 365,000 beneficiaries. However, during the implementation phase, thanks to additional funds that were received, this number was revised to 449,000, bringing the total target for WFP’s emergency response during the agricultural lean season from 605,000 to approximately 689,000.

• Approximately 27,000 adolescent girls received cash grants (school scholarships) to cover the last quarter of 2020-2021 school year. Out of this total, 11,000 beneficiaries are targeted in emergency areas and, on top of the cash grants, received a multisectoral package of activities (including nutrition, WASH and Social Behaviour Change Communication) within the framework of the joint Breaking Barriers to Girls Education (BBGE) initiative in partnership with UNICEF and UNFPA.