Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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10 Famous People Who Are Actually Refugees

10 famous refugeesThe world has witnessed the severe effects of violence, poverty and injustice throughout the globe, and innocent people continue to suffer the consequences. The United States and several other countries have often offered refuge to those fleeing war and injustice. Below are 10 famous people who are actually refugees who made iconic contributions in various fields.

  1. Gloria Estefan
    Estefan is a singer, writer and actress who fled Cuba for the United States in the 1960s as a result of Castro’s communist revolution.
  2. Albert Einstein
    Einstein was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who escaped Nazi Germany in 1938. Einstein took matters into his own hands, providing visa applications and vouching for other refugees also fleeing Nazi Germany.
  3. Madeleine Albright
    Albright fled Czechoslovakia with her family in 1938, settling in the U.K. before moving to the U.S. She became the first woman appointed to the position of U.S. Secretary of State in 1997.
  4. Alek Wek
    Wek was nine years old when she fled South Sudan for Britain with her family in the wake of a civil war. Wek was discovered by a modeling agent and rose to international fame.
  5. Elie Wiesel
    Writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor, Wiesel wrote several books about the horrors of the Holocaust. Elie and his wife, Marion, started the Elie Wiesel Foundation in remembrance of the Holocaust and to combat intolerance and injustices.
  6. Freddie Mercury
    Singer, songwriter and producer, Freddie Mercury is best known as the frontman for the rock band Queen. Born in a British Protectorate of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, now Tanzania, Mercury and his family fled during the Zanzibar Revolution in 1964, settling in the U.K.
  7. Marlene Dietrich
    Dietrich was a German-born actress and singer whose career spanned decades. She applied for U.S. citizenship after being offered an acting contract by members of the Nazi Party. Dietrich was also known for her humanitarian efforts during WWII, housing exiles and advocating for their U.S. citizenship.
  8. Wyclef Jean
    Another of these 10 famous people who are actually refugees is Wyclef Jean, Haitian rapper, musician and actor. Jean immigrated to the U.S. as a child with his family during the Duvalier regime in Haiti.
  9. Andy Garcia
    Garcia and his family fled Cuba after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion when he was five years old. He is best known for his role in The Godfather Part III, receiving a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Vincent Santino Corleone. Garcia celebrates his roots and challenges Latino stereotypes in Hollywood.
  10. Theanvy Kuoch
    Kuoch was a slave of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979, before being found by the Red Cross. With her family, she relocated to the United Nations refugee camp and spent two years working as a nurse in various camps before moving to the U.S. In 1982, she founded Khmer Health Advocates with three American nurses to provide health services for survivors of the Cambodian genocide.

These 10 famous people who are actually refugees have paved the way for themselves and others. Refugees are simply people seeking out a better life in a new country; this is a humanitarian issue, and refugees need our help in rebuilding their lives.

– Jennifer Serrato

Photo: Pixabay

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Identifying the Multiple Causes of Poverty in Africa

Africa

The causes of poverty in Africa cannot be narrowed down to one single source. As a developing country, Africa has a lengthy history of external, internal and man-made forces at work to bring about the circumstances this continent suffers from today.

In sub-Saharan Africa, almost 220 million people, half the population, live in poverty. Worsened by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, cultural conflict and ethnic cleansing, Africa faces many challenges that directly correlate with its impoverished status.

Poor Governance

Poor governance, one of the major causes of poverty in Africa, involves various malpractices by the state and its workers. This malpractice has led many African leaders to push away the needs of the people. Having created the “personal rule paradigm,” where they treat their offices as a form of property and personal gain, these leaders openly appoint underqualified personnel in key positions at state-owned institutions and government departments. This type of governance affects the poorest people and leaves them vulnerable, as they are denied basic necessities such as healthcare, food and shelter.

Corruption

Corruption has been and still is a major issue in the development of and fight against poverty in Africa, specifically sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). SSA is considered to be among the most corrupt places in the world. According to a survey conducted by World Anti-Corruption, corruption in Africa is “due to the fact that many people in Africa believe that family relations are more important than country identity. Therefore, those in power use bias and bribery for the gain of their relatives at the expense of their country.”

Corruption costs SSA roughly $150 billion a year in lost revenue. While some countries in Africa, such as Ghana, Tanzania and Rwanda, have made some progress in the fight against corruption, there are still many lagging very far behind. A lack of effort to solve this issue only worsens the causes of poverty in Africa today.

Poor Education

Lack of education is also a serious issue that contributes to the causes of poverty in Africa. This absence is especially felt in sub-Saharan Africa, which has the highest rates of educational exclusion. Over one-fifth of children between the ages of about six and 11 are out of school, followed by one-third of youth between the ages of about 12 and 14. Almost 60 percent of youth between the ages of about 15 and 17 are not in school.

Education for girls has become a major focus of support groups like UNICEF, UNESCO and the UIS. With poor access to school, lack of sanitary facilities and social norms like female genital mutilation and child marriage, the right to women’s education is even less of a priority in impoverished communities.

However, education, especially girls’ education, has been proven to be one of the most cost-effective strategies for promoting economic growth. According to UNICEF, “studies have shown that educated mothers tend to have healthier, better-nourished babies and that their own children are more likely to attend school; thus helping break the vicious cycle of poverty.”

Healthcare

Poor healthcare is a major cause of poverty in Africa because the poor cannot afford to purchase what is needed for good health, including sufficient quantities of quality food and healthcare itself. With a lack of education on preventing infectious diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS, as well as the costs of consultations, tests and medicine, people living in poverty are at a severe disadvantage that only perpetuates the poverty cycle.

With a strong fight against many forces still ahead of this nation, Africa must weed out the corruption and poor government, and promote strong education and efficient healthcare for all, in order to take a big leap forward in its development as a continent.

– Kailey Brennan

Photo: Flickr

Sustainable Agriculture in Iran


Agriculture plays an important role in Iran’s economic sector. In fact, it accounts for over one-quarter of the GDP and one-quarter of employment. However, Iranian land also experiences diverse climatic conditions. These conditions along with issues such as the increasing population and destruction of natural resources, overdependence on pesticide, insecticide and chemicals, limited arable land, soil erosion and water pollution threaten sustainable agriculture in Iran. As such, fostering sustainable agriculture in Iran is a major goal for the country.

 

Fostering Sustainable Agriculture in Iran Through the Forestry Sector

One notable project led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations focuses on the country’s forestry sector. In an effort to foster sustainable agriculture in Iran, it aims to save oak and boxwood trees in the Iranian forests. The FAO has developed 15 reports and guidelines it believes are crucial in ensuring sustainable agriculture in Iran.

Additionally, the FAO implemented a project between 2015 to 2017 in support of establishing sustainable forest management in Iran. This effort increased the resilience and strengthened the capacity of forests to overcome natural shocks resulting from repeated droughts. The FAO also established a UTF (Unilateral Trust Fund) project in order to respond to the most urgent issues related Iranian forests.

 

Water Management Methods

Farming has become a challenge in Iran due to declining rainfalls and the overuse of water. The Conservation of Iranian Wetlands project is implemented by the Departments of Environment and Agriculture, the U.N. Development Programme and the Global Environment Facility. It is a sustainable agriculture initiative in Iran that aims to expose villagers to crucial water management methods. It showcases simple agricultural techniques such as composting that saves not only the environment but also improves the economy.

 

Training Farmers with Simple Agricultural Techniques

This initiative started small, initially bringing only 25 farmers from a village to demonstrate 9 different agricultural and water management techniques. However, those farmers replicate the sustainable approaches they learn on the site in their own farms, thereby increasing yields.

Through theoretical classes and practical demonstrations, these farmers learn about crucial alternatives to traditional flood irrigation and the use of chemical fertilizer. Since both techniques overuse water, the sustainable techniques introduced in this project teach farmers to use water efficiently.

For instance, the traditional flood irrigation method requires farms to be irrigated for days at a time. Conversely, through adopting the techniques promoted in this project, crops would need only five hours of water. These techniques save 4400 cubic meters of water in the region.

In addition to helping the environment, it also helps increase farmers’ individual incomes since it increases yields significantly. For instance, the average yield of one hectare in the wetland is 70 tonnes. By using the sustainable techniques, yields are doubled up to 148 tonnes for common crops such as tomatoes or watermelons.

This project also aims to involve women by bringing 11 women facilitators who learn the techniques and implement them in their communities. Plans of reproducing this initiative in other parts of Iran are already in effect.

Since so many livelihoods in the country depend on agriculture, working toward having sustainable agriculture in Iran is crucial. Hopefully, with continued support and initiatives in this sector, sustainable agriculture in Iran will become a reality, which would not only save the environment but also increase incomes.

– Mehruba Chowdhury

Photo: Flickr

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The Success of Humanitarian Aid to Bolivia


With an estimated 59 percent of its population living in poverty, Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America. Combined with its vulnerability to severe weather, humanitarian aid to Bolivia is essential.

Due to its high plateau 3,000 meters above sea level and valleys at mid-altitude with tropical plains, Bolivia experiences a diverse climate. This kind of diversity creates risk for weather events such as floods and droughts. In Bolivia, approximately four out of ten people live in flood-prone places. Upwards of 16 percent of the entire population living in areas that are at risk for droughts.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

The weather conditions of Bolivia have made its rural population vulnerable. The FAO works with Bolivians to help reestablish their livelihoods and increase their resilience to weather disasters. FAO focuses on establishing a strong disaster risk management program that includes early warning systems. This would warn Bolivian residents before disasters strike.

The FAO is also restoring embankments that will be built at two meters from the surface of the earth. This sole infrastructure would survive two severe disasters (floods or droughts) at different times throughout the year.

Additionally, FAO is helping individual families and farmers. For struggling families, the FAO is providing animals to struggling families to establish herds and the production of protein because animals are often essential for vulnerable families to make a living.

For farmers, FAO is distributing species of seeds such as rice, maize, beans and cassava in order to establish a routine crop production. With FAO’s direction, farmers will practice post-harvest conservation. This way, farmers decide what seeds are the best for sustainable production in the years to come.

World Food Programme (WFP) Providing Humanitarian Aid to Bolivia

Throughout the years, the WFP has been a crucial example of the success of humanitarian aid to Bolivia. Specifically, WFP contributed necessary emergency aid after a severe drought in the Bolivian Chaco and the Southern region of Cochabamba. It provided humanitarian assistance to approximately 10,000 families, or 50,000 people, for six months.

The interventions took place across 12 districts in the four most damaged areas. Food and work were provided as well as vouchers for work. The main goal of this assistance was to restore the food security to the families that were vulnerable because of the post-flood conditions.

Given that this country is so prone to floods, droughts and other severe weather conditions, humanitarian aid to Bolivia is essential in order to sustain living conditions and the livelihoods Bolivian residents. Although weather conditions are constantly proving to be unpredictable and dangerous, the assistance that Bolivia receives helps keep the country resilient regardless of the struggles it faces.

– McCall Robison

Photo: Flickr

Sustainable Agriculture in El Salvador


The country of El Salvador is known for being the smallest and most densely populated country in Latin America. It has the 12th highest GDP in the Americas. A large portion of their economic growth comes from remittances. Despite its comfortably high GDP, 32.7 percent of its citizens live in poverty and there is a need for developing sustainable agriculture in El Salvador.

The Development of Sustainable Agriculture in El Salvador

Agriculture, which had decreased substantially in the 1990s, continues to play an important role in the economy as it employs 25 percent of the country’s labor force. Coffee and sugar, El Salvador’s main exports, account for a significant portion of the agricultural sector. 

As well, El Salvador is one of the most susceptible countries to climate change. Ninety percent of its land is deforested and there is little access to water. In 2014, for example, rains did not come and farmers lost almost 95 percent of their crops. With the growth and help of certain programs pertaining to sustainable agriculture in El Salvador, a healthier and safer life for the impoverished will come.

Grassroots Organizations Working with Farming Communities

One example of a collective is the US-El Salvador Sister Cities (USESSC), a grassroots network of 17 cities and organizations that work in solidarity with farming communities in El Salvador. One of the groups they support is CRIPDES, the Association for the Development of El Salvador. With them, USESSC has enabled local committees to utilize organic agriculture practices.

One of their main phases to impact sustainable agriculture in El Salvador is to educate farmers. For example, the project teaches farmers how to create organic fertilizer instead of purchasing ones filled with synthetic chemicals.

El Salvadoran Native Seeds

Another main objective is to save native seeds as a way of continuing tradition and helping the economy in a circular way. Monsanto, a massive agrochemical company from the U.S., used to be the main provider of seeds in El Salvador. However, El Salvadoran native seeds are better suited for the environment than Monsanto ones.

Several years ago, the U.S. Embassy withheld $300 million in aid from El Salvador until they agreed to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). This would have opened bidding to companies like Monsanto, making their seeds easier to import. However, CRIPDES and other groups protested and contacted Congress. As a result, the position reversed.

In 2015, the El Salvadoran Ministry of Agriculture created the Family Agriculture Program. This gave 560,000 small farm families the opportunity to plant bean and corn seeds across the country to revitalize small-scale agriculture. They ended up producing 50 percent of corn seed supply and 8 percent came from native seeds, which turned out to be the highest ever.

With continued development and a focus on domestic products, sustainable agriculture in El Salvador will flourish. Through these ventures, not only will its economy improve, but the possibility to provide for its own citizens will become easier. 

– Nick McGuire

Photo: Flickr

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Success of Humanitarian Aid to Chad

humanitarian aid to chad

The sub-Saharan African nation of Chad is one of the poorest countries in the world. Nearly one-half of its 13 million inhabitants live in poverty, with that number reaching 87 percent in rural areas. Chad ranks 184 out of 188 on the Human Development Index, a measure of achievement in three essential elements of human development: life expectancy, education and standard of living. Given these statistics, humanitarian aid to Chad is imperative.

Issues Faced in Chad

Chad faces the overlapping crises of food insecurity, malnutrition, human displacement, epidemics, climate change, drought and chronic poverty. It has one of the world’s highest rates of maternal mortality, high infant mortality and a life expectancy of under 50 years. Over one-third of the population is undernourished, and less than one-third is literate.

Approximately 4.7 million citizens require humanitarian assistance, including 900,000 in need of emergency food. Conflict in neighboring countries has also led to an influx of 409,000 refugees into Chad, which has an extremely limited capacity to shelter them.

International Organizations Providing Humanitarian Aid to Chad

Thankfully, a number of international organizations are providing humanitarian aid to Chad.

The European Commission (EC) is one of the main donors. It focuses largely on food assistance, malnutrition, epidemics, internally displaced people and refugees. The EC has helped 750,000 people through food programs. It has also provided healthcare and education for internally displaced people, protection for those fleeing Boko Haram violence and agricultural programs for refugees.

Solidarites International

Solidarites International assists farmers and herders, whose livelihoods have been in decline for several years. It provides them with resource management to combat lack of income and malnutrition, and risk reduction activities to better handle natural disasters.

Solidarites also establishes agricultural cooperatives, credit facilities and various income-generating activities. Joining the fight against malnutrition, it feeds therapeutic meals to children under five and leads campaigns for nutrition and hygiene awareness. To reduce the usage of unsanitary water, Solidarites rehabilitates water points and helps communities better manage their water supplies.

UNICEF Providing Aid For Children

In 2018, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) plans to provide treatment for 169,200 young children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, measles vaccinations for 147,000 children and clean water for 182,500 conflict-affected people. It estimates that there are 4.4 million people and 2.5 million children in urgent need. Of these, UNICEF hopes to reach 763,800 and 502,650 respectively.

Its multi-faceted humanitarian strategy encompasses a broad range of solutions. It includes children’s rights, psychosocial support for refugees, care for unaccompanied children, family reunification services and mine-risk education. To meet the need, UNICEF is requesting $54 million in funding for 2018.

Humanitarian aid to Chad is essential yet underfunded. The international community bears the responsibility of intervening on behalf of the Chadian people. While many organizations are doing amazing work on the ground in Chad, more help is urgently needed to combat the complex crises facing the nation.

– Anna Parker

Photo: Flickr

Power Africa Provides Electricity to 50 Million

Power Africa Provides Electricity to 50 MillionLiving without electricity causes many hardships, especially for the more than 50 percent of people without it in Africa. Power Africa, an organization centered on providing countries in Africa with electricity, has provided electricity to more than 50 million people in Africa thus far.

With extreme weather and labor-intensive chores, it can be hard to live without it. Milk spoils, children have a hard time doing their homework, people have to take a bus to town to charge cell phones and many women even have to give birth in the dark. Power Africa is changing the way individuals go about their daily lives.

Power Africa Providing Electricity

While the organization is in its fourth year, Power Africa is steadily making progress towards its goal. It aims to increase generation capacity by 30,000 megawatts as well as add 60 million new electricity connections by 2030. Since its inception, it has already reached an incredible number of people. The organization uses renewable energy and installs solar power throughout Africa to provide power to citizens.

Power Africa has not only provided electricity but has also initiated public-private partnerships. Thanks to these partnerships, more than 100 private energy companies as well as investment firms, are working with the United States government to invest over $40 billion total, which is five times the United State’s first $7 billion investment towards electricity. These investors are a huge part of this movement and restoring electricity to Africa’s countries.

The Vocational Training and Education for Clean Energy Program

Vocational Training and Education for Clean Energy (VOCTEC) is an Arizona State University program. In partnership with Power Africa, it has provided regional training centers across 15 countries in Africa. This totals over 28,400 hours of training.

This program has made a huge difference for Africa. In the past, many new energy installations have failed due to not having enough trained technicians who can maintain them, especially in the solar power maintenance.

Along with this program, come more opportunities for women. VOTCEC has recruited over 150 women to take part in the solar power trainings.

Power Africa has created a network of partners, and programs, that have all teamed together to provide Africa with electricity. It continues to progress towards its goal of 60 million more power connections in the next 12 years. The organization is moving fast towards its goal and has been extremely successful in their work thus far.

– Chloe Turner

Photo: Michael Meraner

Investment Helps Spur Improved Infrastructure in Gabon

Investment Helps Spur Improved Infrastructure in Gabon
Infrastructure has become an issue of increasing salience for the country of Gabon. Diminishing growth rates and persistent poverty have become common; oil shocks have put the economy into tumultuous waters. To address this, the West African nation, with a population roughly the size of Nebraska, has recently prioritized addressing inadequate infrastructure in Gabon. It is doing so in partnership with Bechtel, a company known for its landmark development projects across the globe.

The Role of Infrastructure in Gabon

Economists agree that infrastructure is a crucial component of economic growth, especially in developing countries. Along with increased productivity, improved infrastructure also disproportionately helps the poor. This is achieved through improved access to markets and facilitating human capital accumulation and economies of scale.

Put simply, better roads, railways and ports make transporting goods easier and cheaper. Furthermore, better telecommunication infrastructure, like telephone lines and internet access, enables more participation in economic activity. Education and healthcare also become more accessible, which allows people to improve their productivity.

For infrastructure in Gabon, where less than half of airports have paved runways and only 11 percent of roads are paved, there is plenty of room for investment to catalyze improved economic output.

The State of Gabon’s Economy

Despite boasting per capita GDP rates larger than most of its underdeveloped neighbors, Gabon has found itself confronted with significant development challenges. Its economy is overly reliant on a triad of natural resources; oil, manganese, and timber exports comprise the majority of the nation’s income. Petroleum revenues alone are responsible for 45 percent of the nation’s GDP. Such a dependence on exports, particularly natural resources, typically stifles a nation’s primary sector.

Development difficulty has also been exacerbated by an often unstable business environment fostered by the government. Gabon performs poorly – 167th out of 190 – on the World Bank’s Doing Business report, which measures a nation’s ease of doing business.

Previously, corruption had effectively thrown sand in the gears of the economy. It dissuaded foreign investors and compelled them to funnel capital elsewhere. Many potential investors find the nation’s regulatory apparatus too onerous. Furthermore, oil money often does not trickle down to benefit the citizens.

However, budget shortfalls attributable to poor fiscal planning and mercurial oil prices, as well as declining growth rates have facilitated a renewed emphasis on infrastructure investments and encouraged more government transparency.

Bechtel’s Commitment to Infrastructure

Unfazed by many of the obstacles to infrastructure in Gabon, Bechtel began an ambitious “master plan” for the nation’s infrastructure in 2010. The San Francisco-based construction and civil engineering firm agreed to a $25b public-private partnership. Its aim is to “balanc[e] economic progress with social and environmental policies… includ[ing] new schools and fiber-optic communications” as well as to increase industrial capacity within the nation.

Reaping the Rewards

Bechtel’s ambition to help modernize infrastructure in Gabon has shown tangible benefits for the nation and its people. Thus far, the partnership has successfully built five thousand public housing units, the nation’s first community wastewater treatment plant, and designed a new port, marina and conference center in the capital city of Libreville.

Gabon has made significant strides in other areas, too. When Bechtel began their work, less than 6 percent of Gabonese had internet access; by July 2016, the rate was 48.1 percent.

Although public debt and pervasive poverty remain problems, investment in infrastructure has offered a blueprint for building a better environment for Gabon and improved economic prospects for its people.

– Brendan Wade

Photo: Flickr

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Michael Jackson “We are the World”

we are the world michael jackson

In 1985, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie joined forces to write a song titled, “We are the World.” The hope was for the song to highlight the poverty crisis in Africa and generate much needed aid. The song brought many artists together for a cause and actually created a legacy for other artists to follow.

Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie jumped all in when it came to creating, “We are the world.” The duo handled long nights and experienced emotions of sadness and empathy during the process.

The idea behind the song came from Harry Belafonte and Ken Kragen. Belafonte a long time human rights activist wanted deeply to help the starving people of Africa, more specifically Ethiopia. At the time, Ethiopia lost over 1 million people to famine from 1983 – 1985.

Belafonte’s dream was to not only help poverty stricken Africa, but to help end hunger in the U.S. as well. The long time activists had heard of a charity song created in the UK that had great success in generating aid for Africa, thus sparking the idea for the project.

The sales for the album were shocking. Less than a week after the release the entire 800,000 copies available were sold.

The single also remained number 1 on many billboard charts for weeks and received multi-platinum status. It is said that “We are the world” is the bestselling single of all time. Over 50 musicians and artists worked on the song. Some artists include Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Willie Nelson, and many others.

In total, over 63 million dollars through album and merchandise sales were made. It was agreed that 90 percent of these sales would go toward relief for Africa and 10 percent would stay in the U.S. Half of the money allocated for Africa went to emergency aid relief, such as ready-made food. The remainder went toward funding programs that would create lasting change for the country.

Thus far over 70 projects have been created in 7 countries around Africa. These projects help in areas of agriculture, fishing, water management, manufacturing and reforestation. The 10 percent set aside for the U.S. helped with hunger relief and homelessness.

Michael Jackson and the many other involved with the production of We are the World, sparked a legacy for other artists to maintain. In 2010, artists gathered to create another song for charity to raise funds for Haiti after a devastating earthquake left thousands dead and injured. The song was called “We are the World 25 for Haiti.”

The song’s lyrics from the original, “We are the World,” were revised and a rap section highlighting Haiti’s tragedy was added. Artists were able to raise money for the thousands of wounded and displaced citizens.

We are the World will continue to represent the coming together of humanity to create change for a better world. The continuation of humanitarian efforts such as this will ensure that countries faced with tragedy, whether it is disease, famine, or destruction will continue to be supported.

– Amy Robinson

Sources: YouTube , The History Channel, Song Facts

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USAID’s Humanitarian Aid to Niger Alleviates Hardships

NigerNiger is known as one of the poorest countries in the world. According to the World Bank, 45.5 percent of Nigeriens live on less than $2 a day. With the highest birth rate in the world, averaging 7.4 births per woman, the growing population struggles to feed and educate its people without humanitarian aid to Niger.

This African country, located on the edge of the Sahara, is prone to major climate-induced hardships such as extreme droughts and floods. These affect economic growth, agriculture and cause major food shortages, something this already impoverished country does not have the means to deal with properly.

Flooding of the Niger River

The most recent heavy rainfall, between early June and late September, triggered flooding in all eight regions of Niger. These floods have resulted in at least 56 deaths with more than 194,000 affected by the damage. With 22,200 acres of crops, 700 wells and 16,000 livestock ravaged by the floodwaters, the Niger population along the Niger River, and Dosso particularly, were displaced and in hardship.

The Niger government deployed personnel to flood-affected areas to respond to efforts and distribute food to communities. The humanitarian needs, however, pushed the government into overdrive, calling upon international assistance for humanitarian aid to Niger.

Humanitarian Aid to Niger from USAID

In response, USAID and the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance provided $50,000 to support the distribution of emergency relief supplies, including shelter materials, to affected people in Dosso and Niamey. This is not the first time USAID has been called upon to assist Niger. According to the organization’s website, “USAID/OFDA continues to support the U.N. Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) in Niger, providing nearly $1 million in FY 2017 funding for UNHAS operations in Diffa.”

For the approximately 50,000 people that were affected by the torrential rains and floods from the Niger River, the Government of Niger, with the support of USAID, is working to find sustainable solutions to recurring floods. As part of these efforts, they have created a protective dike that should defend about 30,000 people from floods in several of the city’s neighborhoods.

A Country Moving Forward

Niger and USAID’s partnership is providing life-saving humanitarian aid to Niger in a courageous effort to assist this nation and pull it out of its many hardships. With more support like this, there is a chance Niger can ascend from its impoverished status.

– Kailey Brennan

Photo: Flickr