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On Wednesday, while relief is being delivered across Niger, UN humanitarians called for the urgent lift of border and airspace restrictions to allow in more needed aid supplies.
“Significant amounts of urgent medical supplies, nutritious food, equipment, and food stocks are stranded in neighboring countries, and airspace closure affects movements in and out of Niger,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, while warning about the consequences of the “ongoing crisis” on the humanitarian situation.
“Humanitarian exemptions from border and air closure sanctions are urgently required to allow humanitarian stocks to be replenished,” the office said.
According to OCHA, in Tahoua, the country’s southwest, humanitarians provided medical care, reproductive health services and nutrition to over 1,000 people through mobile clinics.
Une réunion des bailleurs s’est tenue aujourd’hui à #UNICEF, à l’initiative de l’Équipe Humanitaire Pays. Le but est de partager des analyses sur les impacts de la #crise politique sur la réponse #humanitaire et renforcer le plaidoyer pour plus de��.
It is time to act! #SaveLives pic.twitter.com/mkqcoHIeSG— OCHA NIGER (@OCHA_Niger)
August 23, 2023
Furthermore, OCHA also said that the World Food Programme reported that it began food distribution to more than 9,000 refugees from Mali in Tchintabaraden, in the southwest.
Moreover, OCHA has stated that flooding has been reported in Niger, with 88,000 people impacted across the country, and the Maradi region being the most affected one.
“The United Nations is ramping up the response and distributing sanitation kits and shelter items while assessments in newly affected areas continue,” the office said, adding that “heavy rains are forecast for the coming weeks. This is expected to increase water levels in rivers, including in the capital Niamey.”
