Niger: UNICEF reports more than 240,000 uprooted from homes in Diffa region

20:53, 22 June 2016

UNITED NATIONS. KAZINFORM More than 240,000 people, or a third of the population, in Niger's Diffa region have now been uprooted from their homes since violence by Boko Haram insurgents began three years ago, a senior United Nations official said.

According to Viviane Van Steirteghem, representative of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Niger, many have been settling along Route Nationale 01, the main road crossing the region.

After 3 June, the sites along that road had received an additional 60,000 to 70,000 people, resulting in increased pressure on water resources, she said. The newcomers, settling in three of the main sites, had arrived with their families and with their cattle. Those sites had initially been quite homogeneous in terms of linguistic groups and occupations of the inhabitants, but it was no longer the case. There are additional tensions now.

Ms. Van Steirteghem, who visited Diffa twice in the past 14 days, said UNICEF's assistance focused on the coordination of the water response, initially water trucking, and now drilling, as people were expected to settle on the sites for quite some time.

In Bosso, women and children make up the majority at the displaced persons' sites. There had been cases of measles reported, despite a massive vaccination campaign in December 2015. Since they lived in temporary housing, they were extremely vulnerable when the rainy season arrived, she said.