UN appeals for aid to combat Niger’s crisis

UNITED NATIONS – UN relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland on Tuesday appealed for millions of dollars in aid from donors to tackle an “acute humanitarian crisis” in the west African state of Niger where 2,5 million people, including 800 000 children, are facing famine.

“We are having now an acute humanitarian crisis in Niger in which children are dying as we speak,” he told reporters here. He said no statistics were available on the number of deaths so far but noted that 150 000 of the 800 000 children affected were suffering from acute malnutrition and were likely to die soon if untreated.”We could have prevented this and the world community didn’t,” Egeland, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, said.Malnutrition has hit 3,6 million people over the past year, a third of Niger’s 11,5 million population.Egeland pointed out that it cost US$80 dollars to save a starving child’s life through therapeutic feeding centres set up in drought-stricken Niger but it takes only a dollar a day to prevent a child from reaching that stage.The latest crisis in Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries and already no stranger to malnutrition, was sparked by the drought accompanied by last year’s invasion of desert locusts which shrunk cereal production by more than 200 000 tons.The food crisis has also affected neighbouring countries, including Mali, but Niger is the worst hit.- Nampa-AFPHe said no statistics were available on the number of deaths so far but noted that 150 000 of the 800 000 children affected were suffering from acute malnutrition and were likely to die soon if untreated.”We could have prevented this and the world community didn’t,” Egeland, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, said.Malnutrition has hit 3,6 million people over the past year, a third of Niger’s 11,5 million population.Egeland pointed out that it cost US$80 dollars to save a starving child’s life through therapeutic feeding centres set up in drought-stricken Niger but it takes only a dollar a day to prevent a child from reaching that stage.The latest crisis in Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries and already no stranger to malnutrition, was sparked by the drought accompanied by last year’s invasion of desert locusts which shrunk cereal production by more than 200 000 tons.The food crisis has also affected neighbouring countries, including Mali, but Niger is the worst hit.- Nampa-AFP