APA – Niamey (Niger) UN agencies are still providing aid to Niger despite the political uncertainty caused by last’s month’s coup and threats by the West African regional bloc Ecowas to use force.
Mohamed Bazoum, the democratically elected president who took power in 2021, was the target of a coup on July 26th.
Since then the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is working tirelessly to reinstate him as president.
The United Nations (UN) is supporting the mediation efforts of the organisation, which has already imposed a series of sanctions against Niamey.
But “almost three weeks after President Bazoum was arrested by some of his guards during a takeover,” UN agencies are “still reaching people” with humanitarian aid.
It is impossible to do otherwise, because in Niger, as the United Nations points out, “some 4.3 million people depend on humanitarian aid.”
As a result, “despite the challenges, including the ongoing rainy season,” actions are still underway, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
“Last week alone, 22,000 people in the Maradi region, in the centre of the country, received cash and food aid,” the source added.
“We and our humanitarian partners are also working with the de facto authorities to identify and prepare a site to accommodate around 13,000 displaced people in Ouro Gueladjo, in the Tillaberi region (South-West),” Mr. Dujarric said.
The UN spokesman nevertheless pointed out that “these people had been displaced from several villages in mid-July, before the current political crisis.”
Leonardo Santos Simao, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, warned that “the security situation in the region could worsen if the political crisis is not resolved.”
ID/ac/fss/as/APA