29-08-2023 | di COOPI

Niger. The call of international NGOs to safeguard the most fragile persons

On July 26, 2023, the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland (CNSP) announced that it had overthrown the current President Mohamed Bazoum and his government. In response to that, part of the international community put in place a number of individual and collective sanctions: closure of land and air borders, suspension of development aid, suspension of financial and commercial transactions and freezing of the assets of the Republic of Niger and certain Nigeriens. With this advocacy, the "Humanitarian Working Group" (GTH) of the body "International NGOs represented in Niger" (OIREN), of which COOPI-Cooperazione Internazionale is part, suggest three steps that members of the international community should take to preserve Nigerien people’s access to basic social services and humanitarian assistance:

1. Introduce humanitarian exemptions to all the collective sanctions adopted against Niger, in order to guarantee the continuity of access of vulnerable populations in Niger to humanitarian services.
2. Review the sanctions adopted to date by applying the principle of “Do no harm” to any measure adopted against Niger, as a way to assure protection and minimize the negative impact on the living conditions of the populations.
3. Demonstrate creativity, flexibility, and adaptation of financing mechanisms in order to maintain access to basic social services for the population in Niger.

Bringing together 45 NGOs present in Niger, OIREN aims to provide a framework for exchanges, training and representation for international NGOs in the State, in order to improve the quality of their work with beneficiary populations. Its members operate in 8 regions of Niger, employing 11,000 people (national and international) for over 180 projects. The role of the GTH within OIREN is to ensure recognition of the role of humanitarian NGOs in the humanitarian response through advocacy or institutional communication, and ensuring respect and unconditional application of humanitarian principles.

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