IRELAND HAS PROVIDED 36 tonnes of emergency shelter supplies, including 4,500 blankets, 2,100 mosquito nets, 250 tarpaulins, and 150 tents, to Niger.
The announcement of extra aid was made by junior minister Joe Costello this morning following heavy flooding across the west African nation.
The floods have affected about 20,000 households, with almost 8,500 families forced to abandon their homes.
The supplies, which will be airlifted into the country, come from Ireland’s pre-positioned stocks in the UN Humanitarian Depot in Accra, Ghana.
“These essential supplies will allow our partner organisation in Niger, Plan Ireland, to provide emergency assistance to those who have been forced to relocate as a result of the flooding,” said Costello.
Niger has suffered food crises in the past four years, causing a drop in incomes for families, as well as a substantial loss of livestock and other assets.
2012 saw cholera outbreaks, floods, a 33 per cent increase in malaria cases and the influx of some 60,000 refugees from northern Mali.
Recent flooding has affected at least 300,000 people and killed 91 people across the Sahel region of the continent.
According to Irish Aid, the impoverishment of vulnerable households as a result of continued high prices, nutritional needs remain extremely high in 2013.
Over the past two years, Ireland has provided over €2.8 Million in emergency humanitarian funding to Niger.
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