Highlights
· UNHCR released the Malian Level 2 registration data that have been collected between December 2012 and June 2013 in the 3 camps of Tillabéri region, the two sites of Tessaoua and Tassalite and the urban area of Niamey. According to UNHCR, as of 16 August 2013, 47,583 Malian refugees have been registered in Niger.
· Every week an average of 8,000 new cases of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) are admitted into therapeutic centres in Niger. This is comparable to average weekly admissions in 2012, during the same period.
· Figures from the national SMART nutrition survey conducted in May/June 2013 at national level reveal a global acute malnutrition (GAM) rate of 13.3 % and a severe acute malnutrition (SAM) rate of 2.6 % in 6-59 months children.
· As of 4 August, 215,180 children under five have been admitted into therapeutic centres for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) while another 290,796 have been receiving treatment for moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). Nutritional status is still under control but fragile given the increasing food prices observed due to, amongst others, political insecurity in neighbouring Mali and Nigeria and the beginning of the lean season.
· As of 15 August, a cumulative number of 432 cholera cases, including 10 deaths (with a case fatality rate of 2.31 percent) have been reported since the beginning of the epidemics on 10 May. With the support of its Donors (AECID, ECHO, UK Committee and CERF Secretariat), UNICEF and its operational partners (CISP, Solidarités International, MSF, COOPI, WHH, Samaritan’s Purse and WHO) are effectively responding to the epidemics.
· As of 15 August, following the declaration of the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States in Nigeria, Southeastern Niger (Diffa region) has experienced an influx of an estimated 13,500 displaced persons from Northern Nigeria. The Government and humanitarian actors’ strategy is to increase the absorption capacity of the host communities affected by the influx by targeting the needs of the whole community while ensuring minimal distinction between refugees, returnees and local populations.
· According to OCHA, as of 21 August, further to heavy rainfalls all across the country, an approximate 3,015 households (24,234 people) have been affected by the flooding. 2,120 houses have been destroyed and 1672 hectares of land damaged. Joint need assessments (including government, UN agencies and NGOs) are still on-going in order to confirm these data.