Caritas seeks funds for Niger flood victims

“In Niger, the rains usually mean a good harvest and are a cause for joy, but the rain and floods that came this month have just caused chaos,” said Abdou Galadimi Souleymane from Caritas Niger.

Caritas is appealing for donations to help some 9,000 people in Agadez and Tillabéry, including those whose houses, livestock and crops have been destroyed by the floods.

People will be provided with shelter, blankets, mosquito nets and cooking utensils, while a hygiene kit containing soap and bleach will help protect people from the outbreak of disease.

Floods from torrential rains have caused the deaths of at least 80 people and displaced thousands across sub-Saharan Africa, with 100,000 people affected in Agadez and Tillabéry alone. Vast areas of crops and thousands of cattle have also been destroyed.

“Such losses have been a further blow to the fragile food supply in Niger, where frequent droughts put many people at risk of hunger. The wells that people rely on for their water have also been affected by the floods,” said Caritas.

Caritas said its chapters in Senegal and Burkina Faso had made an appeal to aid the victims of the flood.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it feared the outbreak of water-borne diseases and swarms of crop-eating locusts, especially in Mali and Niger.