11/14/2012 19:35 GMT
PARIS, Nov 14, 2012 (AFP) - Niger rounded up aid pledges of $4.8 billion (3.8 billion euros) for its 2012-2015 economic and social development programme at a donor conference in Paris, officials said Wednesday
A statement issued at the end of the two-day conference said the amount of the pledges reflected excellent cooperation between Niger and its partners.
Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou presided over the conference, attended by hundreds of delegations from international organisations and other countries.
The development plan targets improving food security, promoting sustainable agricultural practises and social development, as well as strengthening public institutions.
"Only economic and social development will allow the Sahel region to eventually live in peace," Issoufou said Tuesday, evoking the violence in neighbouring Mali and the trouble the arid countries south of the Sahara desert have feeding their populations.
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