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Niger + 1 more

Humanity and patience help thousands of refugees in Niger

Around 60,000 refugees from Mali are receiving emergency food aid in four camps in north-western Niger. The aid is being distributed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme, thanks to support from partners including Switzerland. This will then develop into a targeted assistance programme in the autumn. Caroline Nanzer works for the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit and is supporting this transition. Report.

It’s 9pm on 30 July when the deputy director of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Niger calls me. “Caroline, we just got worrying news about the security situation in Abala (a town in northern Niger, 50km from the border with Mali). It’s better if you postpone your mission for a week at least.” This means that if my departure is confirmed, the location of mission has just changed. Flexibility is everything in this job.

The next day, and a few administrative hurdles later, I find myself en route with a colleague from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We visit the camp in Mangaize north of Niamey, the capital of Niger, 70km from the border with Mali.

Our mission is to publish a list of households who won't receive any emergency aid after October. By now, some families have become independent enough. Our task is to set up a complaints committee and answer peoples’ questions.

“The families are waiting for you.”

In the car, I think back to my first mission in Niger. It was in 2015, and I was visiting the camp in Tabareybarey. The camp was housing thousands of refugees who had fled the violent armed conflict in Mali. My mission was to analyse the food and nutrition situation of the households in the camp. The day I left, the representative of one of the district chiefs bade me farewell with these words: “You will always be welcome here. We don't feel abandoned any more because you came to see us.”

Two years later, as we arrive in Mangaize, a question enters my mind: “Would I still be as welcome today, even if I’m only coming to help set up a targeted assistance programme?” I get my answer as soon as we arrive. “They’re waiting for you,” a colleague announces.

The WFP, which is the UN’s body for food aid, and the UNHCR have been distributing food vouchers to the refugees in the camp since 2014. They also provide food assistance to pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children.

But the programme needs massive funding. And the resources allocated to the camp have declined dramatically. Humanitarian needs in Niger are huge. Refugees from Mali are not the only ones who need aid. In 2017, an estimated total of 1.8 million people in the country were facing food insecurity.

Targeted assistance and support for families

In response to these new challenges, in 2016 the UNCHR set up a programme in Mangaize that supports families in developing income-generating activities. The goal is to help households become financially independent.

Our visit marks a new stage in a long process that has been under way for more than a year. The refugees have been included in every step of the way. This began by identifying which households required assistance in order to be able to meet their basic needs. These families continue to be provided with humanitarian aid.

For other households, becoming financially independent makes it possible to do without emergency aid. As with all periods of transition, there are many questions. There is also resistance, and acceptance is not always easy. That is why we are working together with the government to talk with the communities, support the transition and reassure people. The refugees continue to receive international protection and other community services such as education and health.

During one of our discussions, a district chief says: “Tell us if you are tired of us.” My heart starts racing. I look around me. What if it were me or my family sitting in this camp, with only a few keepsakes from a life that had taken years to build: a house, possessions, animals, a family... Without knowing if one day it would be possible to go back home and live there in safety.

Based on the deteriorating situation in north-eastern Mali and the arrival of thousands of new refugees, I know that the possibility of returning is not coming any time soon. I recognise this feeling of empathy coming over me. These aren't the first refugees I've met, and this anger is something I've felt, lived and shared in the Middle East too. I see that there are no borders to these universal feelings of injustice, sadness and, sometimes, despair.

Which is why we have to carry on the discussions, communicate with people and find common solutions – with humanity and patience. When it comes to emotions, we are all alike. This is what these meetings show us, and even though they are challenging sometimes, they are also part of the beauty of my work.