28-06-2023 | di COOPI

Niger. Assamaka, humanitarian asssistance on the border with Algeria

Since March, COOPI - Cooperazione Internazionale has been working on the border between Niger and Algeria to provide a humanitarian response to the needs of the migrant and host population. Since the beginning of 2023, in the north-east of the Country, in the region of Agadez, the village of Assamaka has been hosting 9,000 migrants from countries such as Ivory Coast, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Senegal, Mali and Nigeria, due to the intensification of refoulements from Algeria and Tunisia. 

Moreover, since June, COOPI has strengthened its intervention activities through the project financed by the Italian Development Cooperation Agency (AICS), "Multi-sectoral humanitarian response in favour of the populations affected by the migratory crisis in the village of Assamaka and the city of Arlit". Food, water, shelter, health, mental health, hygiene kits and emergency latrines were the aid provided to 3,500 beneficiaries. The project aims to compensate for the lack of services and resources such as water, one of the most difficult commodities in the desertic area, and, in doing so, to mitigate possible conflicts with the local population.

COOPI has been operating in Assamaka since the end of March 2023 where it carried out the first emergency response, thanks to the European Union Humanitarian Aid (ECHO). Morena Zucchelli, COOPI's head of mission in Niger, explains:

Thousands of people had been waiting for months to be registered at the IOM (World Organisation for Migration) centre, yet the only structure present in the area to manage initial reception services had limited capacity compared to the large number of people on the move... In 15 days, with funds allocated by the European Union, we built temporary accommodation, contracted two tanker trucks to bring water, and began the distribution of food outside the IOM centre.

After the first 3 months of response to the emergency, in complementarity with the project supported by AICS, the World Food Programme (WFP), with the project financed by COOPI and entitled "Humanitarian food aid response in the Agadez region" also made it possible to distribute cereals, legumes, oil, and salt and thus to prepare hot meals with the active involvement of migrants.

Today, COOPI is determined to continue its intervention in the Assamaka area in partnership with the local realities, the village head, the border police officer, and the local NGO that has provided crucial support in recent months:  

The idea for future interventions is to increase the capacity of the local population. They have helped us greatly with logistics and facilitated us by mastering the local language, Tamasheck

 explains Zucchelli.

COOPI has been active in Niger since 2012 and operates in several regions: Diffa, plagued by Boko Haram; on the border with Mali and Burkina Faso, in the region of Tillaberi and Tahoua; in the region of Maradi and Zinder; in the north, in the region of Agadez.