The Irish Red Cross & ElectricAid: making a basic difference in Niger.

A woman prepares food from millet and water at her home in a village near Zinder, Niger.

A woman bathes her baby at her home in a village near Zinder, Niger.

Women carry water back to their homes in a village near Zinder, Niger. The Irish Red Cross supported the construction of the borehole in the village.

A man waters his cattle with water from a well near Zinder, Niger.

A woman cooks food with her husband and child at their home in a village near Zinder, Niger. The Irish Red Cross have been supporting labour-saving and environmentally-friendly initiatives in the area such as the use of fuel efficient stoves for cooking.

Inside a classroom of a school in the village of Wala Abdou near Zinder, Niger. The Irish Red Cross have provided a block of latrines for the school and have plans to renovate the school itself.

A woman milks a goat in a village near Zinder, Niger. Irish Red CRoss supports breeding and animal fattening programs in villages throughout the area.

A man watering plants in a local market garden near Zinder, Niger. The Irish Red Cross supports the development of market gardens in the region.

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The Red Cross is best-known for its work in disaster relief – and ElectricAid has stood with them in their relief efforts in Ireland and all over the world. What may be less well-known is that the Red Cross is also a major player in international development. The Irish Red Cross has a particular focus on, and partnership with the  Saharan nation of Niger.

Niger needs all the focus and partnership it can get. It is one of the poorest and least-developed countries on the planet, particularly exposed to climate change, drought and desertification. It ranks at 187^th (of 188) in the UN Human Development Index, 2017,  (Ireland is 8^th). People in Niger have a life expectancy of 56, and very high fertility with 70% of the population under 25 years of age. Female literacy is at 15%, and access to basic sanitation stands at 11%. GDP is $1,100 per head,  (Ireland’s is $55,500).

Since 2012, ElectricAid has consistently supported Red Cross work in the Zinder province of Niger. The 14 projects supported have focused on food security (community cereal banks and agricultural skills training), water and sanitation programmes, and support for education. Our total commitment 2013-2017 comes to €122,000 – your funds, exceptionally well spent. Here’s what the Red Cross has to say:

Since 2008 the Irish Red Cross has been combatting constant drought and famine in Zinder, Niger. Zinder is the poorest and most vulnerable region of Niger. It covers almost 12% of the country and is bordered on one side by the Sahara desert. In this harsh rural terrain thousands of people survive through the most basic form of subsistence farming.

Extended families live in rudimentary handmade huts. There is no sanitation and hygiene levels are dangerously low, meaning disease and infections are widespread. Epidemics of cholera, malaria and meningitis are common.

The Zinder region suffers constant drought, famine and devastating locust infestations that constantly destroy their meagre crops. The amount of arable land is also decreasing rapidly as desertification allows the Sahara desert to turn small farms to dust. To make matters worse, Zinder’s hungry population grows day by day, as migrants and refugees arrive seeking shelter from a brutal conflict in the north east of neighbouring Nigeria.

The Irish Red Cross, working with our partners the Niger Red Cross and with thanks to funding such as that from Electric Aid, are helping local communities to overcome and combat these issues, securing access to clean water, sustainable farming and essential training and in-turn empowering the most vulnerable of these communities, women and children. To date we have changed the lives and secured the future of over 250,000 people.

Saplings & Stoves against Desertification in Niger.