British charities launch appeal for Niger

A number of UK charities have launched an intensive media appeal to help raise money for the West African country of Niger, which has been badly hit by famine.

Around 2.5 million people in Niger are facing acute food shortages, due to drought and a locust plague. The Red Cross has estimated that eight million people are at risk of hunger, not only in Niger, but also in the neighbouring countries of Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso – one of the most neglected and poorest regions in the world.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), the umbrella organisation for a number of charities including Oxfam, the British Red Cross and Save the Children, launched its Niger Crisis Appeal for telephone and online donations at the weekend and began TV and radio appeals on Tuesday.

Donations to the appeal will help to fund member agencies’ relief programmes, including the purchase and distribution of food, animal fodder, seeds and medicines.

Niger has been almost ruined by decades of chronic poverty. Prior to the current crisis, 40% of children were malnourished and the country had the second highest global mortality rate amongst children under five.

The DEC said that the food shortages had made “a dire situation unbearable” and said that millions of people were struggling to deal with the effects of persistent lack of food, safe water and basic healthcare.

Launching the appeal, DEC Chief Executive Brendan Gormley said: “We need the public to donate whatever they can today to help us save lives. DEC members are working together to get urgent supplies of food to those who need it most urgently in Niger and are also scaling up their efforts in the other countries of the Sahel region in West Africa, which are also badly affected. Every second counts.”

Donations to the DEC Niger Crisis Appeal can be by calling: 0870 60 60 9000 or through any High Street post office or bank.

Donations can also be made through the website at www.dec.org.uk.

(KMcA/SP)