Full Coverage: Emergency relief

25.08.2005 On Wednesday, August 24, a state of emergency was declared in Gorican and Kotoriba for fear of flooding. The Mura River level has risen to 460 centimetres, and the Medjimurska County engaged over 300 workers and volunteers to stand by and intervene should the need arise.

24.08.2005 The quality and quantity of relief food aid distributed by the WFP in Niger is ineffective in remedying the acute malnutrition children are facing, Médecins Sans Frontières said Tuesday, and urged U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan take measures to ensure aid reaches the real needs of people.

22.08.2005 Stating that tsunami survivors in central Somalia have been ‘neglected by aid agencies,’ pirates who hijacked a WFP food aid ship seven weeks ago have rejected an earlier agreement to release the ship’s cargo and crew, and continue to demand that the food aid be distributed in their community.

19.08.2005 Medical teams report a continuing increase in the number of children requiring treatment in Zinder, Niger's second largest city.

18.08.2005 In an effort to feed an additional 175,000 children in the hardest-hit parts of Mali and to avoid it slipping into a humanitarian crisis similar to neighbouring Niger, the UN World Food Programme has almost doubled its emergency appeal for the West African country to $13.6 million.

17.08.2005 There is a famine in Niger and millions of people are at risk of dying of hunger. What caused this famine? Could it have been prevented? Net Aid answers your questions on the root causes of the famine, and the current situation on the ground, and urges you to take action to help people in Niger now and avoid similar crisis in the future.

17.08.2005 Six years after the massacre that emptied Saiza, a rich land in the Paramillo National Park in Colombia, a few families have dared to return to their destroyed houses to face the armed groups that forced them off their land. But the anxiety of surviving in a conflict area is taking its toll on the people, says Médecins Sans Frontières.

16.08.2005 « Le mois d’août sera le pire », déclare le docteur Milton Tectonidis, un spécialiste de la nutrition pour MSF au Niger.

De nombreux facteurs ont contribué à ce désastre. Oui, l’insécurité alimentaire au Niger est chronique. Oui, la sécheresse a réduit la récolte en 2004.

Les conséquences de ces aléas climatiques et acridiens auraient pu être modérées si des mesures efficaces avaient été mises en place au moment où les premiers signes de gravité de la crise sont apparus au début de l’année 2005. Mais le gouvernement nigérien était soumis aux pressions des institutions financières internationales, des principaux bailleurs de fonds et des agences des Nations Unies qui avaient pour objectif d’éviter tout ce qui pourrait déstabiliser le marché ou mobiliser des ressources affectées aux projets de développement en cours.

16.08.2005 Nomads have been so badly hit by the Niger food crisis that their already fragile way of life is at risk, according to a new assessment in the south of the country.

14.08.2005 When John Le Carre set out to write the Constant Gardener--a thriller novel-turned-major motion picture about a feisty humanitarian activist murdered in Northern Kenya--he found inspiration for his character from Yvette Pierpaoli, a passionate activist for refugees and children who worked for Refugees International before her sudden death in 1999.

12.08.2005 Humanitarian organizations prove daily they can provide for those victimized by disease, disaster, or war, but long-term solutions to persistent poverty lie in removing obstacles created by trade barriers, colonial history, tribal bias, and corrupt governments, says Action Against Hunger-USA.

12.08.2005 Humanitarian organizations prove daily they can provide for those victimized by disease, disaster, or war, but long-term solutions to persistent poverty lie in removing obstacles created by trade barriers, colonial history, tribal bias, and corrupt governments, says Action Against Hunger-USA.

12.08.2005 Women's savings groups in Niger, better able to survive the food crisis because they have stored grain and financial resources, are sharing and distributing food stocks as well as selling seeds to farmers at discounted prices to help their communites stave off hunger.

10.08.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug 10 (OneWorld) - Famine in Niger is the most visible sign of a West African food crisis that could have been averted had international donors not been so stingy with some of the world's poorest countries, a leading aid group has said.

10.08.2005 JOHANNESBURG, Aug 9 (IPS) - Images of skeletal children in Niger, wasted away by malnutrition, have featured prominently in the media over recent weeks. Amidst efforts to alleviate this suffering, however, there are fears that the crisis in Niger may undermine donor willingness to tackle problems elsewhere on the continent -- notably in Southern Africa.

10.08.2005 Paul Hetherington travelled to Niger with a selection of journalists to report on the food crisis for Save the Children. This is his blog from the 10-day trip....

09.08.2005 Negotiations with elders and community leaders have secured the release of a ship carrying food aid for tsunami survivors in Somalia. The hijackers, who seized the ship over a month ago, had complained that their area had been neglected by aid agencies.

09.08.2005 August will be the worst month for Niger, according to a Medecins Sans Frontieres nutritional specialist.

08.08.2005 Do pictures of famine change policy? How many people have to die before a distant event becomes news? Is it possible for the media to present positive images of people in need? Daniel Nelson looks at an exhibition with many questions but no answers.

08.08.2005 Years of neglect by rich countries have contributed directly to the food crisis in Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso, a leading international agency said today.