Niger faces security threats from internal and external extremist groups and continues to be a major focus of the Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Partnership that USAID implements throughout the Sahel. USAID is helping the Nigerien government and local partners create economic opportunities and increased civic and political participation for Nigerien youth to help undermine extremist messages and encourage stability in Niger and the region.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

USAID humanitarian assistance to Niger is provided primarily by the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, (OFDA) and USAID Office of Food for Peace (FFP), mainly for agricultural, livelihood, food security, and health and nutrition interventions to support populations’ recovery from food insecurity while reinforcing their capacity to cope with future emergencies. USAID development assistance to Niger, re-instituted in 2006 following a ten-year hiatus after the 1996 coup, supports the Government of Niger (GoN) and partners in enhancing resilience to climatic shocks among the most vulnerable populations, addressing chronic food insecurity in the country, and countering violent extremism. USAID is bridging the divide between its humanitarian and development assistance through joint planning and implementation as part of the broader resilience agenda.

CONFLICT MITIGATION AND PREVENTION

Niger is one of three countries, along with Mali and Chad, that participate in the Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism Partnership (TSTCP) to combat violent extremism (VE) in the Sahel region. USAID’s role in TSCTP is managed by the West Africa Regional Mission in Ghana and the Africa Bureau in Washington (the Mali program is currently suspended). USAID’s current TSCTP activities include a regional Peace for Development (PDEV II) program in Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad; and a research agenda examining the drivers of VE in the Sahel and providing a dynamic framework for development programming to counter violent extremism.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

Both OFDA and FFP actively provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable Nigeriens recovering from climatic, economic and man-made shocks that have affected the region in recent years. In FY 13 USAID provided more than $41.6 million in humanitarian assistance to Niger, in coordination with $9.5M in humanitarian assistance provided by the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration to support refugees displaced to Niger.