ConflictVoice

27 April 2010 – The top United Nations humanitarian official today traveled to south-eastern Niger to assess the human impact of a grave food crisis that has affected more than half of the West African country’s 14 million people.

John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, went to the department of Tanout in the region of Zinder, where living conditions are characterized by extreme poverty in a fragile economy dependent mainly on agriculture and pastoral activities, which have been greatly affected by a prolonged drought.

Access to food, water, education, health and all other social services remains poor. An annual population growth rate estimated at 4.4 per cent has exacerbated chronic vulnerability.

Not long ago, Niger President Mamadou Tandja was talking amnesty for rebels. Now, members of his own military have captured him and taken power.

Back in 1999, a military junta assassinated…