Concern appeals for nurses to combat Niger crisis

Aid agency Concern today appealed for Irish nurses to travel to Niger to join relief efforts to combat widespread starvation across the African state.

Concern has warned if the international community does not respond immediately the world’s second poorest country would face an "Ethiopia-type" famine.

Brid Kennedy, Concern’s regional director for West Africa, said aid workers on the ground are discovering areas of the country even more badly affected by food shortages than first believed.

The UN, which warned of the impending crisis as far back as November of last year, said 3.6 million people are facing food shortages and tens of thousands of children are at risk of starving to death.

Ms Kennedy said the aid agency was appealing to Irish nurses to volunteer to work in the region for several months.

“We are looking for six nurses, ideally four of those would probably have experience, and two of them, clinical nurses, who are used to diagnosing and prescribing medicines for sick children in particular,” she said.

Ms Kennedy said anyone interested in offering their support could contact Concern in Ireland.

Ms Kennedy said aid agencies believed the crisis would probably continue until in November as the harvest is expected in October.

“But it will take some time for the harvest to come in, so we expect this response will continue until November and maybe December,” she added.

Ms Kennedy said the agency had also identified food shortages in the neighbouring countries to Niger.

Ms Kennedy said aid workers on the ground are discovering extremely badly hit areas of the country.

The aid worker said they found over 1,000 mothers and children waiting for aid when they travelled to a village eight-hours from Niger’s capital.

She said: “We admitted over 50% of the children into the nutrition programme we are setting up. This was a lot more than we had expected.

The Government last week announced €1m in funds to support the international response to the food crisis – with Concern awarded €500,000 of the allocation.

David Andrews, chairman of the Irish Red Cross, is due to travel to Niger this week to report back to the Government on the situation in the central African state.