British aid team heads to Niger

The British Red Cross have chartered the first aid flight from the UK to Niger in West Africa, where millions are facing death from starvation.

The team, which includes three logistics experts and one information officer, left Bristol Airport on Sunday afternoon.

Two members of the emergency response unit from the French Red Cross are also travelling with the British team.

The team will coordinate the arrival and onward distribution of Red Cross relief items like food, seeds and essential household items, such as cooking utensils and medical equipment that will be delivered to Niger.

Team leader Peter Pierce said: “It’s difficult to know what to expect and we will undoubtedly face challenges but it is vital that we transport everything off the planes and to people in need as fast as possible.“

It is estimated that up to 2.5 million people are in urgent need of food in Niger and it is feared that one in ten children will die unless aid is received immediately. The crisis developed following a drought last year and a plague of crop-devouring locusts.

Miranda Bradley, a systems delegate from London, said there was “clearly a desperate need for food” and added: “The key thing now is to actually get there and evaluate the needs so we can really start to make a difference. Our main objective is going to be making sure the food reaches people as quickly as possible. Logistically, the process of transporting the food could raise challenges as it is now the wet season and the region is largely desert.”

The British Red Cross has launched an urgent appeal for money to assist people affected by drought and acute food shortages in Niger, as well as other West African countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso. The aid agency estimates that almost eight million people in West Africa face imminent starvation unless urgent food aid is received.

The United Nations announced last week that it would again increase the amount of aid sought for Niger, but said that they were beginning to receive funds after “a long period of neglected warnings”.

UN Under-Secretary-General Jan Egeland told a news briefing in Geneva last week that “more money had been received over the last 10 days than over the last 10 months” for the appeal. He said: “The world has finally woken up, but it took graphic images of dying children for this to happen.”

Mr Egeland said that there should not have been so many children dying in Niger and said that the crisis could have been averted.

Mr Egeland said that he was “hopeful” that most of the £30.7 million sought so far would be forthcoming, but added that the figure would again be revised upwards.

The UK government has pledged to give an extra £1 million aid to Niger, on top of the £2 million already pledged.

A Save The Children flight, funded by the Department for International Development, is due to depart for Niger on Wednesday, carrying more than 40 tonnes of food.

(KMcA/SP)