FACT SHEET May 2020 NRC’s operations in Burkina Faso and Niger Peyre-Costa/NRCPhoto: Tom Humanitarian overview NRC’s operation Situated in the heart of the Sahel, Niger is one of the In March 2019, NRC opened a country office in Ni- poorest countries in the world. A rise in cross-border ger aiming to respond to the humanitarian crisis in attacks with non-state armed groups targeting armed the country. Due to the emergency needs across the forces and community leaders has led to a deterioration border in Burkina Faso, NRC initiated a response there in the security situation. The country is also part of the in July 2019. We opened an office in Burkina Faso in migration route towards Northern Africa, and has re- August 2019 and started our emergency response in ceived many refugees from Nigeria, Mali and lately from the Centre North region and later expanded into other Burkina Faso. These aspects have combined to cause provinces. Both countries are combined under one man- significant humanitarian needs in the country that the agement in order to keep costs down and to facilitate state has limited capacity to address. synergies between the countries. Also situated in the Sahel, Burkina Faso has experi- Our interventions include shelter, water sanitation and enced an unprecedented rise in violence and humani- hygiene (WASH), education, livelihoods, and food secu- tarian needs since early 2019. The number of internally rity (LFS). In addition to this, there are opportunities to displaced people (IDPs) in the country has rapidly complement the response with information, counselling increased as the government struggles to contain the and legal assistance (ICLA) in both countries, especially incursions and attacks of non-state armed groups. In in Burkina Faso where we will provide support on hous- January 2019, there were approximately 20,000 IDPs. ing, land and property (HLP) issues. As of April 2020, it is estimated that there are more than 848,000 IDPs in the country. This increase is expected to continue over the following months. NRC Burkina Faso and Niger Established 2019 International staff 9 National staff 67 www.nrc.no MAURITANIA MALI NRC Burkina Faso and Niger NIGER Country office Ouagadougou Niamey BURKINA FASO Areas of operation Ouagadougou Kaya, Maradi, Tillaberi VATICAN MACEDONIA ARMENIA AZER- TURKMENISTAN PORTUGAL BAIJAN ITALY ALBANIA SPAIN GREECE TURKEY AFGHA- SYRIA NISTAN CYPRUS IRAQ MALTA IRAN TUNISIA LEBANON ISRAEL MOROCCO PAKI- JORDAN STAN KUWAIT BAHRAIN ALGERIA LIBYA WESTERN EGYPT QATAR SAHARA UNITED ARAB OMAN EMIRATES SAUDI ARABIA MAURITANIA CAPE VERDE MALI NIGER SUDAN SENEGAL ERITREA YEMEN CHAD BURKINA GAMBIA BENIN FASO GUINEA BISSAU DJIBOUTI GUINEA BENIN NIGERIA SIERRA GHANA SOMALI- LEONE IVORY LAND COAST TOGO CENTRAL SOUTH ETHIOPIA AFRICAN SUDAN REPUBLIC LIBERIA CAMEROON SOMALIA EQUATORIAL GUINEA UGANDA SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE KENYA REPUBLIC DEMOCRATIC GABON OF CONGO REPUBLIC RWANDA OF THE CONGO BURUNDI SEYCHELLES TANZANIA ANGOLA MALAWI GHANA COMOROS ZAMBIA MOZAMBIQUE TOGO ZIMBABWE MAURITIUS NAMIBIA MADAGASCAR BOTSWANA 0 100 miles SWAZILAND SOUTH LESOTHO AFRICA CÔTE D'IVOIRE 0 NRC100 km Burkina Faso and Niger Address: Country director: Manenji Mangundu Niger Burkina Faso Email: [email protected] Quartier Dar Es Salam, Quartier Ouaga 2000, Zone A, Phone: +226 655 24 302 parcelle l lot 7144 bp:11316. Plot 12 ; lot 19, secteur 52, section +227 920 16 774 281, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Livelihoods and food security Water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) Our livelihoods team are: Our WASH teams: • supporting targeted households with income gen- • promote good sanitation and hygiene in schools erating activities (IGAs) and reducing their negative and communities and rehabilitate WASH infrastruc- coping mechanisms tures • improving access to food for the most vulnerable IDPs using the standard food ration value per household Education • looking into cash and market-based approaches Focusing on education in emergencies, we are: across the multi-sectoral response • supporting the formal system to increase hosting Shelter capacity for IDP children Our shelter teams are: • providing adapted learning conditions to ensure the retention of students in schools • providing essential household items such as lifesav- • conducting awareness raising campaigns within the ing non-food items (NFIs) like kitchen sets, bed- schools to promote inclusive education, enhance ding, clothes, mosquito nets, etc. social cohesion and peaceful cohabitation between • providing complete shelter solutions either through tem- displaced and host community children porary or transitional models (Sahelian adapted model) • distributing education kits to improve the learning • conducting site-coordination activities, especially conditions of students site planning, to enable the installation of shelters • rehabilitating schools and classrooms and minimum basic services, delivered by NRC or • working to improve access to education in areas in coordination with other actors where schools are forcibly closed by armed groups, www.nrc.no while protecting children from harm and promoting response with potential partnerships within rapid re- safe and inclusive learning environments sponse mechanism consortiums. • providing vocational trainings for marginalised youth while promoting apprenticeships, mentoring and Advocacy initiatives career guidance Our advoacy focusses on promoting initiatives that draw attention to this crisis in the first quarter of 2020, Information, counselling, and legal assistance (ICLA) including issues relevant to the Sahel approach across We are exploring options to start ICLA programmes in different countries. We are working with various media Burkina Faso and Niger. outlets to promote the rights of affected populations and to increase the overall level of funding. • In Burkina Faso initial steps have been taken to start activities that complement our shelter pro- Market-based (cash) assistance grammes. This includes, securing tenure for dis- We are looking into the modality of market-based placed people and resolving different land issues approaches across a multisectoral response. Market related to displacement. analyses will be conducted to enable the progressive • In Niger, we will start a project in Maradi with introduction of cash transfer mechanism for both shelter UNHCR on the prevention of statelessness. The and WASH responses. Currently, there are discussions project will ensure that both Nigerian refugees and with the World Food Programme for cash-based inter- the Nigerien population living along the border have ventions in the Centre North region and potentially in access to civil documentation. the Sahel region of Burkina Faso. Plans for scaling up Camp management Burkina Faso Our camp management teams are: Sahel region: an assessment has been carried out and • supporting UNHCR with the coaching of partner NRC plans to intervene in the hardest to reach areas of organisations and capacity building on camp man- the Sahel region, including Pensa, Foube and Dablo. agement within the emergency transit mechanism NRC will expand into emergency water supply (ensuring (ETM) site in Niger longer-term solutions planning) and train communities • we are also working with national NGOs who are on operation and maintenance. We will also supply UNHCR partners responsible for running the Ham- maintenance kits to schools and public latrines. dallayeh ETM site Niger Rapid response Tillabéri: Further expansion into areas bordering Mali Considering the fast deterioration of the humanitarian and Burkina Faso, focusing on Ayourou department. situation with new displacements occurring especially in Burkina Faso, we are implementing an effective first line Maradi: Planning is going into durable solutions, such response that is essential to saving lives. Within Maradi as classroom construction in refugee resettlement areas in Niger, we responded to the first wave of Nigerian and livelihood opportunities for youth in both refugee refugees. We are looking to continue this emergency and vulnerable host population communities. NRC Burkina Faso and Niger is grateful for the generous support from our donors: Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.nrc.no.