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Niger: Floods Early Action Protocol summary (EAP2020NE01)

Pays
Niger
Sources
IFRC
Date de publication
Origine
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The IFRC Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) has approved a total allocation of CHF 250,000 from its Forecast based Action (FbA) mechanism for the Red Cross Society of Niger. The approved amount consists of an immediate allocation of CHF 153,175.40 for readiness and pre-positioning and CHF 81,566.38 automatically allocated to implement early actions once the defined triggers are met.

The EAP shall be funded from IFRC’s Forecast based Action by the DREF where all actions shall be drawn on an annual basis to cover readiness costs, a one-off pre-positioning costs for the first year followed by a one-off sum to implement early actions upon a forecast reaching the trigger

SUMMARY OF THE EARLY ACTION PROTOCOL

With a landmass of 1,267,000 km2, Niger is the largest country in West Africa, with two-thirds of its area covered by the desert. With a high prevalence of child marriage and early pregnancy, the country currently has a fertility rate of nearly 7 children per woman, representing the highest rate of population growth (3.8%) in the world. Its population is expected to grow from about 23 million in 2019 to 30 million in 2030 and reach 70 million in 2050.

On the other hand, the average growth rate of Niger economy for the last three years (2016-2018) seems reasonable at 5.4%, once converted to growth per capita, the figure is low at 1.5%. Besides, the poverty rates have decreased in Niger, but as a result of the rapid increase in the population, the number of poor has increased. Between 2005 and 2014, while the incidence of monetary poverty fell from about 54% to about 45%, the absolute number of people living in poverty increased from 6.8 million in 2005 to 8.2 million in 2014. Furthermore, with 750,000 new children a year, the country faces much greater demands for investment in education and health services, which are in limited numbers and generally poor in quality. For example, in 2019:

• Only about 50% of children have received full immunization coverage, 44% of children under five years of age are stunted, and more than 33% are underweight.
• About 7 out of 10 Nigeriens are illiterate, in primary school, only 4 out of 10 girls reach Grade 6 and learning outcomes are among the lowest in the region.
It is therefore not surprising that since 2010, Niger has almost ranked second to last in the United Nations Human Development Index.

In total, 87.5% of the population were vulnerable to almost all the hazards mentioned above. The Niger Economic development plan shows that at the National level, the poor, of all categories, account for 62.1% of the population. This is mainly rural poverty, with an incidence of 65.7% and a contribution to national poverty of 88.1%.

The country is also one of the most vulnerable to multiple risks and hazards such as droughts, floods, food insecurity, malnutrition, locust attacks, economic recession, inflation, youth unemployment etc. Niger is vulnerable to various manifestations, including both storm and river floods, which are often catastrophic with heavy physical and human tolls and are thus a burden to development efforts. To address these various and multiple dimensional challenges, the Red Cross Society of Niger (RCSN) has benefited from the technical and financial support of Movement partners, including the Belgian Red Cross with "Early Forecast-Based Actions mechanism (FbF)" the ICRC for aspects related to the development and the implementation of actions in emergency areas, the IFRC by sharing pasted DREF and facilitation the validation process with the committee. Other actors such as the Niger Basin Authority (NBA), the National Directorate of Meteorological Services (DNM, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs ( MAH) the National Directorate of Water Resources (DNRE), AGRHYMET, ACMAD, OCHA, UNDP, WHO, and municipalities of Niamey, Tillaberi and Dosso were also involved and or consulted during the development of this Early Actions Protocol (EAP). This approach aims to mitigate or even prevent the impacts of river flooding through the implementation of this EAP in the three regions ( Niamey, Tillaberi and Dosso) The project intends to cover, for the next five years. 3000 households or approximatively 21,000 people. In Niger, in the absence of preparedness actions, the potential for an impact of floods is substantial.

The flood-related impacts could be avoided or minimized through the association and rapid action from the government, the concerned communities, stakeholders, and the National Society (NS). This EAP was designed and will be implemented by the Red Cross Society of Niger and its partners including the Civil Protection, Ministry in charge of disaster management, State Technical Services, etc. Everyone involved in this EAP plays a key role in the preparation and activation of the FbF mechanism. Depending on the context, this document could be an essential component of national and local contingency plans for the government and the RCSN. The EAP presented is related to floods linked to the Niger River basin area that coverts in the Regions of Niamey, Tillaberi and Dosso. It is triggered by a forecast provided by the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) in collaboration with the Directorate General of Water Resources and the Directorate of National Meteorological Services. This EAP provides step-by-step instructions for selected actions to be implemented in a coordinated manner and in an order of activation accordingly. In Niger, the available lead time in relation to floods is 72 hours and all actions. The EAP clearly defines who takes what action, when, where and utilizing which funds. The EAP does not operate in a vacuum. It is connected to existing disaster risk management, risk reduction plans and the national contingency plan. It ensures that early actions to be implemented within a time frame of four days between the given forecast and the potential disaster and actions are carried out quickly and successfully.

The actions included in this EAP prioritize the distribution of empty sacks to be filled with sand for the protection of homes and property; distribution of aqua tabs, jerrycans and mosquito nets for the prevention of diarrheal diseases and malaria; Identifying sites and set up emergency shelters and evacuation for at-risk households to reception sites. It is hoped and expected that the EAP will become an important component of national and local contingency plans for the Government of Niger and the Niger Red Cross Society.