Focusing on Kyrgyzstan and Niger

Several of the Alliance2015 members are currently very active in these crisis countries. ACTED, Welthungerhilfe and People in Need work in Kyrgyzstan. Concern works in Niger with Welthungerhilfe and ACTED planning to join them there.

ACTED and Welthungerhilfe were among the first NGOs to become active on the ground in southern Kyrgyzstan after the recent violent ethnic clashes. Some 2,000 people are estimated to have died in the riots. Roughly 100,000 people have fled to neighbouring Uzbekistan, and ca. 300,000 are internally displaced persons (IDPs) who are staying with relatives or in makeshift shelters in rural areas outside of the city of Osh. Both ACTED and Welthungerhilfe have started to distribute urgently needed basic food items to 20,000 people (ACTED) and 15,000 people (Welthungerhilfe). The Czech Alliance2015 member People in Need has sent two coordinators to Osh whe are now part of the ACTED team. The Alliance2015 members are looking into cooperating on the ground and applying for funding together, e.g. PIN and ACTED to the Czech government and ACTED and Welthungerhilfe to SDC (Swiss Development Cooperation). The latter two are also sharing an office in Bishkek now and are planning a joint livelihood needs assessment.

Another troublesome hot spot (in the truest sense of the word – temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius!) is Niger: according to the latest Niger government/UN estimate, there are now 7.1 million people –nearly half the population- facing hunger in the country due to continued droughts. 3.3 million of that number are severely at risk.
Concern Worldwide has been in the country since 2002 and has been focusing its programme on the hard-hit region of Tahoua. The Irish Alliance2015 member is currently preparing an urgent response to target up to 280,000 of the most exposed people.
Welthungerhilfe had been looking at perhaps working in the Tillaberi region north of Niamey, managing that programme from their office in Burkina Faso. Now, the German Alliance2015 member is looking into perhaps working in the country on a larger scale. ACTED has also been in touch with Concern, looking at an underserved region that Concern had suggested, followed up by an assessment visit in Tillaberi and Fillingue. Both ACTED and Welthungerhilfe can profit from the expertise that Concern already has in the country.