wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] PDA sends $10,000 to famine-plagued Niger

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8828 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05398
August 2, 2005

PDA sends $10,000 to famine-plagued Niger  

Despite aid effort, 3.5 million in West African country face starvation

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has sent $10,000 in
initial emergency relief aid to famine-stricken Niger.

	The money, from the One Great Hour of Sharing offering and designated
disaster funds, will be used to buy more than a ton of millet, milk powder,
seed and cattle fodder for thousands of villagers in the hardest-hit regions.

	A locust invasion last year, followed by a long drought, has
triggered Niger's worst food shortage in two decades and left millions of
people in the West African nation in danger of starvation.

	"It's unfolding, it's deteriorating and it's going to be large," PDA
Coordinator Susan Ryan said of the crisis. "This is a very initial response.
We're still determining which partners we're going to work through."  

	PDA, which announced the contribution last week, is responding to an
appeal from Action by Churches Together International (ACT), a Geneva-based
international alliance of churches and relief agencies, of which PDA is a
member. ACT has asked for a total of nearly a half-million dollars.

	An estimated 3.5 million people in Niger face starvation, according
to the government. The United Nations says more than 800,000 children under
age 5 are suffering from hunger, including 150,000 children who show signs of
severe malnutrition.

	Last year's crop-devouring locust swarms ravaged about 7,000 square
miles of farmland in Niger, a country of 11.5 million people that is among
the world's poorest nations. 

	The ACT money will be used in support of two of its long-term
members, Swiss Interchurch Aid (HEKS) and Lutheran World Relief (LWR), which
have worked in Niger for years and have mechanisms in place to respond, Ryan
said.

	HEKS, through four partner organizations, hopes to deliver 1,125 tons
of emergency provisions to 50,000 people in 55 villages and settlements in
the severely stricken Tahoua and Maradi regions, according to a summary of
the ACT appeal.

	The appeal calls for 600 tons of millet, 10 percent to be reserved
for seed; 50 tons of milk powder, mostly for children; 475 tons of animal
fodder (cotton cores and grain chaff); and 4,520 salt blocks to supply
essential minerals to farm animals.

	Thirteen clay-brick cereal banks have been built, and committees are
being formed to manage the cereal supplies as well as food banks for cattle.

	The initiative targets those who have remained in their homes,
especially women, children, the elderly and cattle farmers. Many residents
have fled to refugee camps, feeding centers and hospitals. 

	Under the program, aid will continue through September, when a new
harvest is expected to ease the famine conditions, the ACT appeal said.

	Meanwhile, the LWR is developing a proposal for additional
humanitarian aid for consideration by the ACT alliance.

	In Niger, most people live on a dollar a day, according to the United
Nations. Forty percent of children are underfed, and one out of four dies
before turning 5.

	Milk, flour and meat are overpriced, according to published reports.
Niger's government sells millet for $18 per 220-pound bag, but for most
people that is just as far out of reach as the unsubsidized price of $54.

	The situation is worsened by increasingly severe famines in
neighboring countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.

	The U.N. World Food Program's country director for Niger, Giancarlo
Cirri, said recently that the food crisis is causing "some of the worst
hunger I have ever witnessed."

	Despite months of famine predictions, international food aid started
arriving in Niger just last week.  

	Relief workers say as many as 25 percent of Niger's population needs
food assistance. They complain that the U.N., the government and other
agencies should have started large-scale emergency aid much earlier. 

	The U.N. first appealed for assistance in November, and got almost no
response. In June, Niger's government refused demands that it distribute free
food. Officials have been sharply criticized for failing to do more to
prepare for the food shortages. 

	However, donations have jumped dramatically in recent weeks, because
of increased media attention and donors' responses to TV images of starving
children, according to the U.N.

	Ironically, early last month the world's attention was fixed on
Africa, when leaders of the world's leading industrialized nations pledged to
double African aid to $50 billion and forgive the debts of 18 countries,
including Niger. At the same time, 10 Live 8 rock concerts on four continents
drew the world's attention to Africa's troubles. 

	Contributions for Niger relief may be sent through normal
mission-giving channels. To contribute by credit card, call PresbyTel at
(800)872-3283 or visit the PDA Web site,
http://www.pcusa.org/pda/donate/accounts.htm. Refer to designated account
DR000168, Niger. Checks payable to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) can also
be mailed directly to: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Individual Remittance
Processing, P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700.

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