Reference :
V-P-NE-E-00122
Date :
11/05/2014
Caption :
Near Diffa, distribution site. An ICRC employee talks to displaced people before a food distribution operation.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
Extract fom ICRC website article, 13.01.2015 :
Niger: Massive food-aid project for people fleeing conflict in Nigeria
Over the past three months, more than 25,000 people (residents, displaced people and returnees) have been aided by the ICRC, which worked closely with the Red Cross Society of Niger to deliver food aid for nearly 45,000 individuals in 2014. Of these, some 11,000 also received essential household items (blankets, tarpaulins, mosquito nets, mats, clothes and kitchen utensils).
"In addition to caring for wounded people, we urgently need to provide food, drinking water and basic household items to the thousands – mostly women and children – who continue to flee the violence," explained Loukas Petridis, head of the ICRC delegation in Niger.
Food and other relief for displaced people and residents
The clashes and resulting poor security have nearly emptied border towns and villages in north-eastern Nigeria, as people have fled to Niger. "Unlike previous waves of displaced people, those arriving today seem determined to stay longer in Niger," said Yssouf Koné, head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Diffa. The situation was a matter of concern to the Red Cross, he added, because the longer the displaced stayed, the greater the pressure on host communities and resources in an area already reeling from the drastic slowdown in trade with Nigeria and from a very poor farming and herding season.
In the municipalities of Bosso (particularly on islands in Lake Chad), Diffa, Gueskérou, Chétimari, Kabléwa and N'guigmi, the ICRC and the Niger Red Cross are assisting people who have fled the conflict, as well as some particularly vulnerable host communities.
Nearly 5,000 people, including over a thousand residents, recently received food aid in N'guigmi and Kabléwa. More than 200 displaced families were also given other essential items.
In November and December 2014, almost 21,000 people (mostly displaced families but some resident families) received food aid. About 1,000 displaced families received additional essential items.
The plight of displaced people on Lake Chad islands remains of particular concern. Access is still a problem, with logistical challenges and security considerations preventing humanitarian workers from reaching all those in need. In late October 2014, the ICRC and the Niger Red Cross distributed food to almost 3,000 people on the islands of Atchabassonori, Kwikléwa, Ali Mandoula, Gadira, Kandahar Hamidou, Kandahar Yacine, and Kachimba.
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Original material :
digital
Resolution :
4608x3456
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
