L’UA exhorte les parties maliennes à œuvrer de bonne foi à la mise en œuvre effective de l’Accord

Addis Abéba, le 20 juin 2015: La Présidente de la Commission de l’Union africaine (UA), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, se réjouit de la signature, par la Coordination des Mouvements de l’Azawad (CMA), ce jour, à Bamako, de l’Accord pour la paix et la réconciliation au Mali issu du Processus d’Alger, ouvrant ainsi la voie à la mise en œuvre consensuelle des dispositions qui y sont contenues. Cette signature est la concrétisation de l’engagement solennel pris par la CMA dans le «Relevé de Conclusions des Consultations préparatoires à la mise en œuvre de l’Accord pour la paix et la réconciliation» qu’elle a conclu avec le Gouvernement malien à Alger, le 5 juin 2015. L’UA était représentée à la cérémonie de signature par l’ancien Président Pierre Buyoya, Haut Représentant pour le Mali et le Sahel et chef de la Mission de l’UA pour le Mali et le Sahel (MISAHEL).

La Présidente de la Commission félicite les dirigeants de la CMA pour avoir fait le choix de la paix et de la réconciliation, en se joignant à l’Accord issu du processus d’Alger, qui constitue un compromis équilibré prenant en compte les préoccupations légitimes de toutes les parties, dans le respect de l’unité et de l’intégrité territoriale du Mali, ainsi que du caractère laïc et de la forme républicaine de l’Etat. Elle réitère son appréciation au Président Ibrahim Boubacar Keita et à son Gouvernement pour avoir su garder la porte du dialogue ouverte et pris des décisions courageuses afin d’arriver aux résultats d’aujourd’hui. Elle exprime son appréciation aux Mouvements de la Plateforme d’Alger qui ont posé des actes positifs de nature à faciliter cette étape du processus de paix, notamment l’engagement de se retirer de la ville de Ménaka. Elle renouvelle l’appréciation de l’UA à l’Algérie, Chef de file de la Médiation, pour les efforts qu’elle ne cesse de déployer pour la paix et la stabilité au Mali et dans la région du Sahel et les sacrifices consentis dans ce cadre, et remercie l’ensemble des pays de la région et les autres membres de la communauté internationale ayant aidé les parties à rapprocher leurs positions.

La Présidente de la Commission souligne la nécessité pour les Parties maliennes de persévérer dans leurs efforts pour parvenir durablement à la paix et à la réconciliation. À cet égard, elle rappelle, ainsi que le stipule l’Accord pour la paix et la réconciliation au Mali, que la première garantie de l’aboutissement de celui-ci réside dans la sincérité des Parties, leur bonne foi et leur engagement à assumer les décisions convenues et à les traduire dans les faits.

La Présidente de la Commission exprime à nouveau l’engagement de l’UA à suivre et à accompagner le processus de mise en œuvre de l’Accord pour la paix et la réconciliation au Mali, dont elle est l’un des Garants. Elle appelle les États membres de l’UA et l’ensemble de la communauté internationale à mobiliser le soutien politique, financier et technique nécessaire pour l’application effective de l’Accord.

Il convient de rappeler que l’Accord pour la paix et la réconciliation avait été signé, le 15 mai 2015 à Bamako, par le Gouvernement malien, les Mouvements de la Plateforme d’Alger et des composantes de la CMA, ainsi que par les membres de la Médiation conduite par l’Algérie, y compris l’UA.

• The village of Yebi located about 4 km from Bosso and more than 100 km from Diffa town was attacked on the night between 23 and 24 June by individuals who arrived on horses. This attack is the second perpetrated in Diffa within one week.

• The Governor of Diffa has undertaken an evaluation mission to the village. According to the findings, five people were killed, and four wounded. The local market and houses were burned, causing important losses of material. In addition, a number of motorbikes, motor pumps, sacks containing foodstuffs, livestock and household articles were lost in the fire. According to the Sub-Regional Committee for Prevention and Management of Food Crisis and Catastrophes (Comité Sous Régional de Prévention et de Gestion des Catastrophes et Crises Alimentaires -CSR/PGCCA-) in Bosso, 202 households consisting of about 1,000 people have been affected.

• An evaluation by the Government to estimate the needs within the different humanitarian sectors is ongoing.

• Stocks consisting of 110 sacks of milk-powder, 15 tons of rice, 1,000 kettles, 6.7 tons of lentil, 400 kg of salt, 1,900 buckets, 1,600 mats, 20 batches of mosquito-nets, 41 batches of covers, 70 cartons of tomato, 200 liters of cooking-oil and 457 sacks of millet were distributed to the affected households by regional authorities on 25 June. These stocks were pre-positioned in Bosso, and initially intended for people displaced from the Lake Chad islands. The Government is mobilizing resources to replenish these stocks.

• Le village de Yébi situé à environ 4 km de Bosso et à plus de 100 km de Diffa, a été attaqué dans la nuit du 23 au 24 juin par des individus à dos de chevaux. Cette attaque est la deuxième enregistrée dans la région de Diffa1 en une semaine.

• Le Gouverneur de la région de Diffa s’est rendu sur les lieux pour évaluer la situation. Le bilan de l’attaque, communiqué par le Gouvernement, fait état de cinq personnes tuées et quatre autres blessées. Le marché et des habitations ont été brulés; occasionnant ainsi d’importantes pertes matérielles. De plus, plusieurs dizaines de motos, des sacs de vivres, des motopompes, et d’autres articles ménagers ont été également brulés.

• Selon le Comité Sous Régional de Prévention et de Gestion des Catastrophes et Crises Alimentaires (CSR/PGCCA) de Bosso, 202 ménages-soit environ 1 000 personnes- sont affectés.

• Une évaluation conduite par le Gouvernement est en cours pour estimer les besoins dans les différents secteurs.

• Un stock composé de 110 sacs de lait, 15 tonnes de riz, 1 000 bouilloires, 6,7 tonnes de lentille, 400 kg de sel, 1 900 seaux, 1 600 nattes, 20 balles de moustiquaires, 41 balles de couvertures, 70 cartons de tomates, 200 litres d’huile, 457 sacs de mil, destiné à assister les populations déplacées des îles du Lac Tchad, et pré positionné à Bosso ont été distribués par le CSR/PGCCA, le 25 juin aux ménages affectés. Le Gouvernement mobilise des ressources pour le remplacement de ce stock initialement destiné aux populations des îles du Lac.

Summary

In common with a number of countries across the Sahel, Mauritania is facing a deteriorating food and nutrition crisis in 2015. At the end of May, ECHO reported that across the Sahel close to 7.5 million people require emergency food assistance1 – a figure of a similar order to the last major regional crisis in the Sahel in 2012, and demonstrating the urgent need for emergency response, particularly as the Sahel enters its annual lean season (typically June to September).

The immediate drivers of the current crisis in Mauritania lie in deficits during the 2014 rainy season, which was marked by a late start in all provinces of the country along with poor spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation: 2014’s rainfall was down on the five-year average, and one of the highest deficit years in the last decade. Tagant was one of the most affected areas, along with significant areas of the regions of Brakna and Hodh El Gharbi (targeted by this operation) Gorgol, northern Assaba and Guidimaka, and the east of Hodh El Chargui; provinces of the north as well as northern Trarza have also been affected.

The southern regions of Mauritania have not had sufficient rain for normal agricultural production, with an impact on the crops grown by poor and vulnerable households. Cereal production (millet, sorghum, maize) decreased 36.5% compared to 2013, and 61% compared to the five-year average. Livestock production, a main source of income for households in rural areas, has also been seriously affected, with insufficient pasture availability, falling prices for livestock due to destocking and losses/deaths of animals, and rising prices of animal feed which is increasingly required due to shrinking availability of pastures.

The reduction of crop production has been accompanied by a decline in demand for agricultural labor, representing a significant loss of income to poor households generally reliant on cash through these kinds of activities. In pastoral areas, transhumance has also reduced the demand for labor, as casual labor is often hired to graze the animals.

Bamako, Mali | AFP | samedi 27/06/2015 - 10:20 GMT

Des hommes armés, soupçonnés d'être des islamistes, attaquaient samedi une ville malienne située près de la frontière avec la Mauritanie, a-t-on appris de source militaire et auprès de témoins.

La ville malienne de Nara, située à à 380 km au nord de la capitale Bamako, a été attaquée à "05H00 (locales et GMT). Nous défendons nos positions", a déclaré à l'AFP une source militaire, sans donner plus de détails.

Plusieurs civils, joints par l'AFP depuis Bamako, ont confirmé l'information.

"Ca tire surtout autour du camp" militaire, dans l'ouest de Nara, a raconté un habitant, avant d'ajouter : "Les assaillants tirent à l'arme lourde. L'armée (riposte). Nous sommes tous cachés à la maison. Nous avons peur."

"Il y a aussi quelques tirs à l'est de la ville. Une balle est même tombée dans ma maison sans faire de victime. On ne sait pas qui tire. Des gens disent que ce sont les islamistes", a ajouté un ancien élu de la ville.

"Les coups de feu sont nourris. On ne sait pas exactement qui tire. Tout le monde est caché à la maison. Les assaillants sont venus d'une forêt avec plusieurs véhicules. Ils sont lourdement armés. J'ai été obligé d'arrêter mes émissions pour des raisons de sécurité", a confié pour sa part un responsable d'une radio privée locale.

Plusieurs témoins attribuent cette attaque à des islamistes.

"Ils sont habillés comme des jihadistes. Il y a des Noirs et des Blancs. Ils sont enturbannés et criaient "Allah akbar!" (Dieu est le plus grand)", a affirmé l'un de ces témoins à l'AFP.

Selon des habitants de Nara, les assaillants ont pris le contrôle de la grande mosquée de la ville et de deux bâtiments administratifs. Mais d'après un élu municipal, les assaillants ont été simplement aperçus à proximité de ces lieux.

Des groupes jihadistes ont pris le contrôle en mars-avril 2012 du vaste Nord malien, avant d'en être chassés en grande partie à partir de janvier 2013 par une intervention militaire internationale à l'initiative de la France, qui se poursuit actuellement.

La rébellion à dominante touareg du nord du Mali, dont des groupes ont été alliés à ces islamistes avant d'être évincés, a signé le 20 juin à Bamako l'accord de paix entériné le 15 mai par le camp gouvernemental et la médiation internationale, censé permettre de tourner la page du jihadisme dans cette partie du Sahel.

sd/mrb/dom

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Sunday 6/28/2015 - 10:29 GMT

At least five people have been killed and 10 wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a leprosy hospital on the outskirts of the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, emergency services said Sunday.

The bomber, who tried to gain access to the hospital, detonated his explosives outside the building at around 5:30 pm (1630 GMT) on Saturday.

"Five people were killed and 10 others injured near the Molai leprosy hospital when a male bomber blew himself up," said Mohammed Kanar, regional coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency.

"The bomber had wanted to gain entry into the hospital but was contemplating how to pass through security checks at the gate when the bomb went off."

He added: "We took the bodies and the injured to the specialist hospital (in Maiduguri)."

Local resident Ibrahim Bulama said the bomber was one of three men who were dropped off near the hospital by a SUV vehicle.

"They looked around for a while, obviously trying to sneak into the hospital," Bulama said, adding that the facility was being guarded by civilian vigilantes who are assisting the military in the fight against Boko Haram Islamist insurgents.

"Suddenly, the explosives on one of them went off. The other two fled in the confusion. Five people were killed and 10 others injured."

• 'The Boko Haram bandits' -

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, but Nigeria's Borno state, where the attack took place, has been the hardest hit by the Boko Haram insurgency which has left at least 15,000 people dead.

Boko Haram, which has been fighting to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria since 2009, has intensified its campaign of violence in the last month.

Danlami Ajaokuta, a civilian vigilante fighting Boko Haram, confirmed the hospital explosion and added that there had been a failed suicide attack by two women in Jakarna village, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Maiduguri on Saturday afternoon.

"Two female suicide bombers died when the explosives on one of them went off prematurely while they were waiting for a bus along the highway in Jakarna," Ajaokuta said.

"Residents from the village heard a huge explosion and when they arrived at the scene they found one of the bombers in parts while the other lay dead face down.

"Her explosives were still intact."

Ajaokuta added that bus drivers have been refusing to pick up female passengers on the road outside Maiduguri since March, when three female suicide bombers blew themselves up at a bus stop in the area.

More than 250 people have been killed in violence since May 29 when President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office, according to an AFP toll.

Buhari has made the fight against Boko Haram a top priority.

On Sunday he condemned the latest attacks by "the Boko Haram bandits".

Describing the perpetrators as "cowards who lack any moral inhibition and any iota of humanity," he warned that hey would find no safe haven in Nigeria as they would be "hunted down without mercy and compromise."

The armies of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon have been fighting a joint campaign against Boko Haram for several months, pushing militants out of captured towns and villages.

abu-cdc/kjl/pvh/mfp

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

Executive Summary

In 2014, the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative (R4) reached over 26,000 farmers, helping them to improve the way they manage risks to their livelihoods and food security. Building on a foundation of concrete disaster risk reduction activities, R4 extended drought insurance to 24,143 farmers in Ethiopia and 1,989 farmers in Senegal. At the end of the 2014 agricultural season, farmers in Ethiopia and Senegal received payouts of $38,116 ($34,187 in Ethiopia and $3,929 in Senegal). The year 2014 also marked the launch of the initiative in Malawi and Zambia with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

One of the most significant results from 2014 was the finalization of the first impact evaluation of the first 4 years of implementation of the Horn of Africa Risk Transfer for Adaptation (HARITA) project, the initial pilot that catalyzed the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative. Adding to the evidence produced through this evaluation, a number of studies including a process evaluation of Senegal’s risk reduction component, the baseline surveys in the expansion zones in Ethiopia, and an assessment of gender mainstreaming in R4 Senegal added to the growing evidence base on the impact of R4.

R4’s learning agenda will remain a central priority in 2015, when an impact evaluation for R4 Senegal and baselines for Malawi and Zambia will be conducted. The R4 team will also develop new learning tools, such as the R4 implementation guidelines, a study on basis risk, and a cost-benefit analysis of R4’s effectiveness.

The Nigerian High Commission in Ghana has presented relief items to support victims of the June 3 flood and fire disaster.

The items included 70 pieces of blanket, 91 packs of toilet roll, 200 pieces of buckets, 2 cartons of dettol, 1 carton of cotton wool, 3 cartons of sugar. Others included 7 cartons of milk powder, 10 cartons of juice, 9 cartons of lipton, 56 packs of water, 5 cartons of bar soap, 4 cartons of tablet soap, 7 packs of powered soap and 3 cartons of milo.

Presenting the items on behalf of the High Commissioner, Mr. Obasola Osasona, Minister II of the Nigeria High Commission said they were touched by the plight of the flood and fire victims. He expressed that the donation would further strengthened the diplomatic ties between Ghana and Nigeria.

Receiving the items, the Acting National Coordinator, Brigadier General Francis Vib-Sanziri thanked the commission for the kind gesture and assured them that the items would be distributed to the victims. He further called on individuals, consulates and cooperate bodies to come to the aid of the victims.

Les travaux agricoles avancent lentement au sud à cause de l’insuffisance des pluies

MESSAGES CLÉS

• Les semis avancent lentement au sud à cause de l’insuffisance des pluies qui ont commencé avec deux à trois semaines de retard au lieu de fin avril comme en année normale. Des pluies de faibles intensités ont été enregistrées dans les régions du Mayo Kebbi Est, Mayo Kebbi Ouest, la Tandjilé et au sud-ouest du Chari Baguirmi.

• L’épuisement desstocks des ménages, la baisse desrevenusissus de la main d’œuvre agricole et de la vente du bétail, ainsi que la hausse atypique des prix des céréales réduisent l’accès alimentaire aux ménages pauvres du Sud Guera, une partie de Wadi Fira, Lac, Kanem, Bahr El Ghazel et Hadjer Lamis. L’insécurité alimentaire peut rester en Stress! (Phase 2 ! de l’IPC) grâce à l’assistance humanitaire.

• A cause des dégâts sur les cultures pluviales causés par la sècheresse de 2014 dans le département de Djourf Al Ahmar (Région de Sila), et les activités maraichères qui étaient affectées par la sécheresse et la forte chaleur, la situation alimentaire des ménages de ces zones reste sous pression. Cette situation est similaire dans les départements de Mangalmé et Abtouyour dans le Guera, ou la soudure a commencé précocement (mi-mai) avec l’épuisement des stocks.

• Les réfugiés et retournés de la RCA dans les régions du Logone Oriental, Moyen Chari, et sud du Mandoul, n’ont pas de difficultés à satisfaire leurs besoins minimum et continuent d’avoir accès régulièrement à l’assistance humanitaire, aux marchés et à la main d’œuvre agricole.

OVERVIEW

The objective of the joint profiling exercise is to provide information on the location and needs of displaced populations and the hosting communities within the Far North region of Cameroon. The results of the first round of this exercise inform and guide the overall humanitarian response towards allowing for targeted and coordinated interventions in accordance with identified needs. The data collected gives an overall picture of the various needs of displaced persons and the host communities.

In order to provide effective protection and assistance it is necessary to have an accurate picture of the overall profile of displaced populations. However given the extremely volatile security situation in large parts of the region, it is often difficult for the government and humanitarian actors to conduct assessments in insecure areas. In view of these challenges, UNHCR and IOM decided to organise the collection of data directly in communities hosting displaced populations. Local data collectors were trained in interview methodology and mobile data collection techniques.

The first phase of this exercise now completed, this report provides detailed information on the methodology used and highlights key findings. It is accompanied by an informative dashboard and the raw data in spreadsheet format available on request.

UNHCR and IOM plan to conduct this exercise regularly to keep providing up to date information on the situation of displaced populations. Following the first phase, the government and other humanitarian partners are invited to make suggestions and give feedback on the questionnaire in order to ensure that the data collected corresponds to the information needed by the humanitarian community in order to allow for effective and well- targeted assistance.

To this end, UNHCR and IOM intend to establish and update IDP community profiles. They will serve to highlight existing needs of the IDP and host communities, help the Government and humanitarian actors to prioritize areas for intervention and provide timely information on the numbers of IDPs and the profile of those being displaced. The profiles include an important element of protection-related information to assist those partners contributing to the realisation of protection outcomes through their interventions. The results will help elaborate sectorial response plans and also help update the planning assumptions of the 2015 Strategic Response Plan and Humanitarian Needs Overview.

Geneva / Bamako (ICRC) – Enduring terrible hardship, often with no means of survival or even shelter: that is the reality for thousands who have fled widespread violence in northern Mali in recent months. Their plight has prompted the distribution of 1,400 tonnes of food, as well as seed and other essential supplies, in and around Mopti, Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), working together with the Mali Red Cross and community leaders.

"We're very worried about the violence. It's taking its toll not only on these communities, but on safe access for humanitarian workers too, thereby depriving people of crucial assistance," said Christoph Luedi, head of the ICRC delegation in Mali. "Neutral and impartial humanitarian work must be allowed to go ahead so that those who are destitute receive the help they need."

Rice, beans, oil and other food supplies have been distributed to some 63,000 people in recent weeks. Almost 18,000 people who have returned to their homes in the region have received mosquito nets, cooking utensils, hygiene items and other essentials.

"This aid meets the most pressing needs, including those of communities which are hosting displaced people. These host communities are themselves struggling to make ends meet and their generosity is being severely tried," said Jean-Pierre Nereyabagabo, who runs the ICRC's economic security programmes in Mali.

The ICRC also provided rice, millet and sorghum seed to 100,000 subsistence farmers, while nearly 900,000 head of livestock have been vaccinated and treated for disease. The ICRC works in close collaboration with Mali Red Cross volunteers, community representatives and public utilities.

For further information, please contact: Ananie Kulimushi Kashironge, ICRC Bamako, tel: +223 75 99 55 68
Claire Kaplun, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 31 49 or +41 79 244 64 05

Summary

In common with a number of Sahel countries, The Gambia is facing a deteriorating food and nutrition crisis in 2015. At the end of May, ECHO reported that across the Sahel close to 7.5 million people required emergency food assistance1 – a figure of a similar order to the last major regional crisis in the Sahel in 2012, and demonstrating the urgent need for emergency response, particularly as the region enters its annual lean season (typically June to September).

The Gambia – ranked as a least-developed, low-income, food-deficit country with high poverty and low human development – has a predominantly subsistence agrarian economy. Poverty levels remain high, with 55% of the population living on less than USD 2 per day and 18% considered food insecure according to WFP. Rain-fed subsistence agriculture is the main source of livelihood for the majority of the population.

In 2014, The Gambia suffered from both late onset of rains and rain deficits, which led to late maturity of crops and a significant dry spell negatively affecting agriculture, particularly rice fields. Crop production was drastically reduced in comparison to that of the previous season (down 19% according to the Cadre Harmonisé2 ) and against five-year averages, with cereal, rice and groundnut harvests particularly affected. Many Gambian farmers now lack seeds and are unable to replant their fields, while there are also reports of depleted soil fertility, and a prevalence of salinity in rice growing areas.

While markets are functioning and provide enough supply for household consumption, across the country households are affected by low purchasing power due to the poor harvest. Food prices have continued to increase, mainly due to the reduction in cereal production, and the unfavourable exchange rate of the Dalasi against major currencies. From January 2014 to March 2015 there were increases in the prices of coarse grains (millet 28%, maize 44% and sorghum 50%), rice both local (33%) and imported (49%), findo (102%) and of other basic food stuffs.

Livestock in The Gambia are also at risk as a result of the current crisis. Livestock production – normally the second largest source of income in The Gambia and contributing about 25% of annual agricultural GDP and over 5% of total national GDP – has been negatively impacted by the amount and duration of rainfall which has destroyed essential pastures, forage and water for animals. As a result of these factors and drivers, the current food and nutrition security situation is of serious concern.

Acute food shortages will again occur during the lean season from June to September, when households often exhaust their food supply, particularly in times of increased stress or crisis. According to Cadre Harmonisé data collection and analysis, in March 2015 100,763 people in The Gambia were food insecure and required immediate food assistance (all in a state of Crisis/Phase 3), with this figure projected to increase to 178,012 people plus 11,427 refugees from Casamance in June-August 2015 (out of a total population in the Gambia of 1,849,000). In the same period, 521,928 people were projected to be at Under Pressure/Phase 2. 3 Recent discussions between the Gambia Red Cross Society (GRCS) and humanitarian actors in-country, including FAO, WFP and ACF, have indicated that the real situation is considered worse than estimated, according to a view that official figures have tended to be underestimated.

Food insecurity undermines nutrition with current food insecurity in The Gambia is inherently linked with widespread malnutrition which continues to pose a major public health problem. There has generally been an upward trend in the prevalence of acute malnutrition at national level from 6.4% in 2005 to 9.9% in 2012. The already alarming nutritional status of children under five – due to poverty, poor infant feeding practices, the disease burden related to inadequate WASH services, and limited knowledge and low awareness of care givers with regards to essential nutritional and hygiene practices – is worsening in 2015 as a result of increasing household food insecurity and depletion of livelihoods. There is a negative prevalence of both wasting (acute malnutrition) and stunting (chronic malnutrition). According to the UN’s 2015 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) for The Gambia4 , the burden of Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) among children under five is currently estimated at 56,839, while Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) is at 10,217 children between 6-59 months based on the 2013 national population census projections and the 2012 National Nutrition Survey in The Gambia conducted by the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) and UNICEF. The prevalence of malnourished pregnant and lactating women in the reproductive age group (15-49) is estimated at 45,944, while severe acute malnutrition rates are above the WHO ‘serious’ threshold in some areas.

Deteriorating nutrition is exposing young children and women of childbearing age (the most vulnerable groups) to nutritional risks, while worsening food security is causing the poor and very poor to adopt increasingly negative or harmful coping strategies in order to meet their basic food needs, causing sometimes irreversible harm to their means of sustaining their livelihoods. An already difficult situation is reaching its peak as the lean season grips, and food stocks increasingly run dry.

By Boureima Balima and Jennifer Lazuta

NIAMEY/DAKAR, 29 June 2015 (IRIN) - Boko Haram came to 25-year-old Fanna Liman Mustafa’s home in Baga in northeastern Nigeria in November and burnt it to the ground. She took her four children and fled across the border into Niger. As fate has it, she is one of the lucky ones. The Islamist militants returned in January and massacred hundreds if not thousands of civilians. “We lost everything in the fire caused by the attacks,” 25-year-old Mustafa told IRIN, explaining how they’d arrived in Niger’s southeastern Diffa region with the clothes they were wearing and little else.

Nigerian families first began seeking refuge in Niger in 2013, but Boko Haram-related violence in the region has spiked in recent months, causing the number of refugees to balloon and leading to a fast-growing humanitarian crisis that garners little international media attention.

An estimated 150,000 displaced people in Diffa are in “urgent need” of greater humanitarian assistance, including food, aid agencies say. Boko Haram attacks have now reached Diffa town itself, meaning those who had been hosting refugees are now becoming displaced themselves.

“They (refugees) have been coming and they keep coming on a continuous basis to Diffa,” said Akébou Sawadogo, director of Save the Children in Niger. “The influx has really increased the burden on local host communities, whose vulnerability was already at a high level.”

Most refugees have little to no access to health care or education and are still short of basic necessities, including water and shelter.

Food security assessments are still being completed, but at least 65 percent of the displaced people, including refugees, returnees and internally displaced people (IDPs), say they don’t have adequate access to food, according to Save the Children.

Like Mustafa, the majority of Nigerian refugees settled within host communities as there were no official camps until the first opened on 30 December.

The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, has helped to relocate a few hundred people to the camps, but an estimated 60 percent of the displaced remain “homeless,” living in makeshift shelters built around trees, according to the latest assessment by the International Red Cross.

Not enough to go around

People in Diffa, where nearly half the population live on less than $1.25 a day and malnutrition rates are among the highest in Africa, were already struggling to survive. Now, local families are sharing their limited food stocks with the refugees.

The UN humanitarian coordination agency, OCHA, has reported that each local family is hosting an average of 17 people. Adding to that burden, many households were unable to go to their fields to plant last year because of the security situation.

This means that the Diffa region produced just 55 percent of the cereal crops needed to meet its annual food needs and now faces a cereal deficit of more than 80,000 tons, according to OCHA.

“In Diffa, the harvest was not very good and the combination of insecurity and bad harvest make it difficult for people to sustain their families,” said Niger country director for the World Food Programme (WFP) Benoit Thiry.

Consequently, this year’s lean season, which is already under way, will be even harder than usual. Thiry said WFP was particularly concerned about the dire nutritional situation facing the region’s children.

The global acute malnutrition rate of children under five in the Diffa region last year was 13.8 percent, already more than double that of Cameroon and Guinea-Bissau, for example. The number of similar-aged children admitted to nutrition centres has doubled and, in some communities, even tripled since then, largely due to the refugee crisis.

Between 1 January and 26 April, there were 8,407 cases of severe acute malnutrition registered in the region among under 5s, according to the latest UN survey data. This compares to 3,168 cases registered during the same period in 2014.

“If you go to Diffa today, when you go into the communities, the biggest needs – what they tell you – are food and water,” Sawadogo said. “So food security remains our major concern in terms of humanitarian gaps, because having more and more households in vulnerability means needing to get more food aid to all the displaced.”

The Save the Children country director said donors couldn’t support the food needs of all the households in Diffa because there wasn’t enough funding.

The UN’s $31.2 million Strategic Response Plan appeal for Diffa has been 55 percent funded, according to OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service. Nearly $14 million is still needed to continue operations until the end of the year.

No papers, no services

In order to attain legal status as a refugee and receive the full benefits in Niger, such as food aid and access to the camps, Nigerians are supposed to have the correct documentation.

“Today, I have difficulty accessing basic services,” 36-year-old Binta Ali told IRIN, explaining that her family’s birth certificates and other papers were destroyed during Boko Haram attacks on their village in Nigeria, leaving them without any proof of identity.

She is not alone.

According to Niger’s interior ministry, more than 60 percent of displaced people no longer have identification documents to prove their nationality. "No birth certificate or no identity document means the basic rights of the target population will be violated and they cannot fully enjoy their rights [as refugees], and also risk becoming stateless," Alassane Seyboune, secretary general at the interior ministry, told IRIN.

Abdel Kadar Gonimi, a Nigerien who had been living in Nigeria but was forced to flee back to Niger, told IRIN: “Each time I want to access services for refugees I must explain myself multiple times, in order to get benefits.”

Niger’s national refugee commission, with support from UNHCR, says it has registered more than 10,000 refugees since mid-March and aims to reach 200,000 by the end of the year. This is an ambitious goal as it is difficult to access certain communities in the Diffa region due to the ongoing Boko Haram threat.

“Diffa is a special situation, as it’s not a traditional humanitarian response where you have camps where refugees stay,” Sawadogo said. “With camps, it’s easier to count them, easier to monitor the situation, easier to provide aid. The humanitarian community is working hard on that, but the challenge is still there to figure out how many people there are and how can we best help.”

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FAITS SAILLANTS

 3,5 millions de personnes sont actuellement déplacées dans le Sahel, soit deux fois plus qu’en février 2014.

• Mise à jour sur les déplacements les autres crises au Cameroun.

• Une radio communautaire en République Centrafricaine contribue à favoriser l'harmonie dans le pays

• L’épidémie d'Ebola déclarée terminée au Libéria

N'Djamena, Tchad | AFP | lundi 29/06/2015 - 17:09 GMT

par Stéphane YAS

Onze personnes, dont cinq policiers, ont été tuées lundi au cours d'une opération de la police tchadienne contre des islamistes présumés de Boko Haram à N'Djamena, deux semaines après un double attentat sans précédent dans la capitale.

L'armée tchadienne, en première ligne dans l'opération régionale contre le groupe armé nigérian, toujours très actif dans le nord-est du Nigeria, y a aussi mené dimanche une incursion depuis le Cameroun contre Boko Haram.

Le Tchad reste sous le choc des attaques du 15 juin: ce jour-là, deux attentats-suicides simultanés contre le commissariat central et l'école de police de N'Djamena ont fait 38 morts - dont les trois kamikazes - et 101 blessés.

Selon le ministre de l'Administration du territoire et de la sécurité publique, Abderahim Bireme Hamid, l'opération policière dans la capitale a commencé dimanche soir avec l'arrestation, "après des échanges de tirs", du "+cerveau+ de Boko Haram au Tchad et au Nord-Cameroun avec ses complices".

Ce présumé chef local, un Nigérian, "se nomme Bana Fanaye, alias Mahamat Mustapha", a précisé le parquet de N'Djamena.

C'est le "coordinateur d'un réseau de trafic d'armes et de munitions entre le Nigeria, le Cameroun et le Tchad. Il est responsable également de la logistique, notamment d'achat d'armes, de matériels, du recrutement et de la gestion des hommes de la secte Boko Haram", a détaillé le procureur de la République, Alghassim Kassim.

Selon le magistrat, une perquisition à son domicile a notamment permis de saisir "des matériels de communication" et "divers documents religieux dont un manifeste en arabe (...) adressé aux adeptes de Boko Haram dans les différents pays africains".

Après cette descente, un compagnon du présumé "cerveau" a désigné aux policiers la maison où sont fabriquées "les bombes artisanales", a raconté le ministre.

Deuxième temps de l'opération: lundi matin, la police est donc intervenue dans cette maison pour une autre perquisition.

Aussitôt, "cinq Boko Haram se sont fait exploser", auxquels s'ajoute un sixième "kamikaze" dont le corps a été retrouvé ensuite, a déclaré M. Bireme Hamid. Cinq policiers ont perdu la vie, et trois ont été blessés.

"Nous avons récupéré trois ceintures d'explosif, arrêté deux éléments de Boko Haram. Une femme avec enfants, présente dans la concession, a été mise à la disposition de la police judiciaire et une autre femme est en fuite", a conclu le ministre.

Les attaques du 15 juin, les premières du genre dans le pays, n'ont pas été revendiquées mais le gouvernement du président Idriss Déby a accusé Boko Haram.

Le procureur de la République a par ailleurs annoncé le démantèlement d'une "cellule active d'un réseau terroriste". "Soixante personnes ont été interpellées", dont des ressortissants tchadiens, camerounais, nigérians et maliens.

Au total, 74 personnes soupçonnées d'appartenir à Boko Haram sont "actuellement détenues", a-t-il affirmé.

Selon le procureur, l'un des trois kamikazes du 15 juin a été identifié.

Selon M. Kassim, "les fragments (d'engins explosifs) collectés sur les lieux de l'attentat" ont été "confiés au FBI pour analyse dans un laboratoire spécialisé".

Selon une source locale, des enquêteurs américains sont en effet arrivés à N'Djamena.

• Huit islamistes tués au Nigeria -

L'armée tchadienne est engagée dans une opération militaire régionale depuis le début de l'année contre l'insurrection islamiste, qui s'est étendue au-delà du nord-est du Nigeria, son fief historique, vers les pays limitrophes: Tchad, Niger et Cameroun.

Cette offensive a infligé de sérieux revers au groupe affilié à l'organisation Etat islamique (EI), mais les insurgés n'ont pas cessé leurs raids.

Dimanche, l'armée tchadienne positionnée à Fotokol, dans l'extrême nord du Cameroun, a "intercepté des éléments de Boko Haram" venus se ravitailler dans la ville nigériane frontalière de Gamboru, selon une source militaire tchadienne.

"L'armée tchadienne a tué huit éléments de Boko Haram", a indiqué cette source.

Un habitant de Fotokol, Umar Babakalli, a évoqué une incursion conjointe des armées tchadienne et camerounaise. "Il y a eu de violents combats et nous pouvions entendre des tirs nourris. Trois heures plus tard, les troupes sont rentrées à Fotokol sous les acclamations de la population".

Selon la source militaire tchadienne, l'aviation tchadienne a bombardé dimanche les positions de Boko Haram sur des îles du lac Tchad. Les bombardements ont repris lundi matin.

Contrôles et fouilles ont redoublé depuis 10 jours à N'Djamena.

Le gouvernement a interdit dans tout le Tchad le port de la burqa, ou de tout vêtement cachant intégralement le visage, par crainte d'attentats perpétrés par des femmes kamikazes.

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© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

MINUSMA condemns in the strongest terms the two terrorist attacks that took place respectively on the 27th and 28th of June. The first attack targeted the military camp of Nara in the region of Koulikoro, 30 km from the Mauritanian border and the second was launched against the administration and security infrastructures of Fakola, 150 km west of the city of Sikasso, near the border with Côte d'Ivoire.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Mali and Head of MINUSMA, Mr. Mongi Hamdi, presents his condolences to the Government and to the Malian Armed Forces, who have lost three of their soldiers in the attack of Nara, as well as to the families of the victims. MINUSMA wishes a speedy recovery to the injured.

MINUSMA once again emphasizes the urgency of combining all efforts to counter terrorism threats to Mali and to its people.

La MINUSMA condamne dans les termes les plus fermes les deux attaques terroristes survenues respectivement les 27 et 28 juin. La première attaque a ciblé le camp militaire de Nara, dans la Région de Koulikoro, à 30 km des frontières de la Mauritanie ; la deuxième a été menée contre des infrastructures de l’administration et de la sécurité à Fakola, 150 km à l’ouest de la ville de Sikasso, près de la frontière de la Côte d’Ivoire.

Le Représentant Spécial du Secrétaire Général des Nations Unies au Mali et Chef de la MINUSMA, M. Mongi Hamdi, présente ses condoléances au Gouvernement et aux Forces Armées maliennes, qui ont perdu trois de leurs soldats lors de l’attaque de Nara, et aux familles des victimes. La MINUSMA souhaite un prompt rétablissement aux blessés.

La MINUSMA souligne encore une fois l’urgence de conjuguer tous les efforts pour parer au défi terroriste qui menace le Mali et son peuple.

La baisse des termes de l’échange bétail/céréales limite l’accès des pasteurs aux marchés

MESSAGE CLES

• Le cumul pluviométrique du 1er mai au 24 juin est déficitaire dans le Nord-Ouest de la région de Kayes, le Sud-Est de la région de Sikasso, et le Nord des régions de Koulikoro et de Ségou. Ces déficits n’ont pas permis un démarrage adéquat de la campagne agricole et accuse un retard d’une à deux semaines selon les zones agricoles du pays.

• La baisse des revenus des ménages pasteurs des régions du Nord à cause des conditions difficiles d’élevage affecte leur accès aux marchés. Par conséquent, les ménages pauvres dans ces zones se maintiennent en insécurité alimentaire de Stress (Phase 2 ! de l’IPC) et auraient fait face à des résultats pires en l'absence de l'aide humanitaire en cours.

• Le recours aux stratégies de réduction des dépenses non alimentaires et la préférence aux aliments les moins chers par les ménages pauvres dans la bande du fleuve de Gao et de Bourem, la zone des Lacs de Goundam, le Haoussa de Niafunké et le Nord de Youwarou dénotent des difficultés qu’ont ces ménages agropastorales à satisfaire leurs besoins alimentaires. La situation alimentaire de Stress (Phase 2 ! de l’IPC) en juin devrait se maintenir en septembre grâce à la poursuite des appuis humanitaires.