The United Nations issued a warning on Wednesday (August 16, 2023), demanding humanitarian exceptions to sanctions and border restrictions to avert tragedy, saying the current situation in Niger could considerably increase food insecurity in the poor nation.
More than three million Niger citizens experienced severe food insecurity prior to the overthrow of democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum in a coup late last month, according to the UN humanitarian organization OCHA.
It cautioned, using an early assessment from the World Food Programme, that more than seven million additional people who are now categorized as moderately food insecure “could see their situation worsen due to the unfolding crisis”.
The presidential guard apprehended Bazoum, 63, on July 26. This was the seventh coup to affect Niger since it gained its independence from France in 1960.
Even though Niger is an impoverished, landlocked nation in the middle of the parched Sahel, the UN food agency claimed it was still providing aid there.
“Our work is vital for the most vulnerable in Niger and needs to continue, particularly in the current circumstances,” Margot van der Velden, WFP’s acting regional director for Western Africa, said in a statement.
But it cautioned that sanctions and border closures linked to the political crisis were “greatly affecting the supply of vital foods and medical supplies into Niger”.
“We urge all parties to facilitate humanitarian exemptions, enabling immediate access to people in need of critical food and basic necessities,” Van der Velden said.
She urged more financial assistance as well, saying that the humanitarian crisis in Niger is deteriorating at a time when the World Food Programme (WFP) is being forced to reduce rations globally owing to a shortage of funding.
According to OCHA, only 39 percent of a multi-agency request for $584 million that was made in March to address the soaring needs in Niger until the end of 2025 has been financed.
Less than a quarter of the monies asked have been given to the food security and malnutrition section, which makes up more than a third of the appeal, it claimed.
