01-02-2023 | di COOPI

Niger. ECHO Director General visits COOPI project

The displaced persons camp of Tandress, located near the town of Tillabery (Niger), hosted the visit of Michael Khoeler, Director General of ECHO (European Union Humanitarian Aid Operations) on 24 January. The camp is one of the sites of the project funded by the European Union and implemented by COOPI - International Cooperation, "Emergency response to health care, nutrition and psychosocial support needs of vulnerable populations, both displaced and host, in the conflict-affected regions of Niger".

The visit took place in the presence of all the local authorities and those in charge of the various activities. Director Khoeler was also accompanied by the European Commission Ambassador Salvador Pinto Da Franca Roux, the Head of ECHO's office in Niamey, Cheick Nah and the Head of ECHO's Central Africa Sector, Julien Bouzon.

The visit was essential for ECHO to understand the work that COOPI workers are doing and the different activities that have been put in place: medical and obstetric visits, nutritional checks, the psychological counselling centre. The situation in the Tillabery region, as the Director also emphasised in his speech, is very complex, and the work carried out by COOPI is making it possible to create an excellent organisational synergy in the area. In fact, the region suffers from a situation of strong food insecurity generated by several factors, including the poverty of households, climatic conditions, the use of non-drinking water and poor access to sanitary infrastructures, to which intense migratory flows due to insecurity must be added. The involvement of local actors and authorities is therefore crucial to respond to the emergency in a coordinated and effective manner in the areas of mental health, nutrition, protection and education.

The visit of ECHO Director, Michael Khoeler, continued at the Mother and Child Health Centre, which was created by COOPI with EU Humanitarian Aid funds in 2014 and is currently run by the Regional Public Health Directorate in Tillabery. This centre has a maternity unit where caesarean sections are also performed, a care centre for severely malnourished children and a stimulation centre for the recovery of severely malnourished children. Dr. Aicha Harouna Ibrahim, Head of the Care Centre for Severely Malnourished Children, accompanied him for a detailed tour, starting from the reception to the admission, treatment and discharge of patients. Then we went to the Stimulation Centre where psychologist Nasser Moumouni Gourouza illustrated the activities that are carried out for the mental recovery of severely malnourished children, pointing out for example the games that are used and the drawings made by the children themselves. Director General Khoeler stressed the importance of the Stimulation Centre for severely malnourished children, considering it very innovative, and concluded the visit by congratulating COOPI and its team.

COOPI has been present in Niger with the European Union since 2013. The effort is to always seek a way to respond in a multi-sectoral and integrated manner to the needs of the territory from interventions in the maternal and child health sector to nutrition to humanitarian protection to projects of a more emergency nature.