Niger

The programmes under ICP IV in the areas of basic social services (water and sanitation, housing, nutrition, basic education), vocational training and employment, finance and food security started as planned and were launched in Niamey on 3 February 2023 in the presence of the Director for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs. A new logistics centre for the Nigerien Red Cross, with a budget of EUR 4.5 million over three years (2023-2025), illustrates the ICP’s nexus between humanitarian action and development. Luxembourg is thus continuing to work to help displaced, refugee and returned communities as well as vulnerable hosts.

The 15th partnership committee meeting with Niger was held on 4 July 2023 in Luxembourg, just before the coup d’état. Franz Fayot, Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, and Hassoumi Massoudou, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, carried out an in-depth review of the progress of ICP IV programmes and discussed the broad strategic outlines for cooperation between the two countries in the coming years. It was emphasised that, with a budget of EUR 148.6 million for the 2022-2026 period, Niger was at the time the top beneficiary from among Luxembourg Development Cooperation’s partner countries. At the meeting, the two ministers signed an amendment to the memorandum of understanding on support for the National System for the Prevention and Management of Food Crises (DNPGCA), increasing Luxembourg’s support to EUR 6.5 million for the 2022-2026 financing period, in response to the severe nutrition and food crisis affecting the entire Sahel.

The coup d’état of 26 July 2023 had major implications for development cooperation activities in Niger. The bilateral programmes implemented by LuxDev and the NGO ADA were suspended due to the unconstitutional change in government. That suspension resulted in the cessation of payments of new funds, the withdrawal of technical assistance made available to central and decentralised authorities, and the suspension of activities implemented in all programmes. In order to reduce fiduciary risks, a monitoring system has been set up by LuxDev.

Multilateral, humanitarian and civil society assistance programmes have continued to be implemented, but under increasingly complex conditions. Multilaterally, support to the World Food Programme (WFP) to support school canteens and to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to support reproductive health and rights continued as planned.

In terms of humanitarian assistance, Luxembourg supported projects by international, multilateral and non-governmental humanitarian actors, with a total financial envelope of EUR 7.3 million in 2023. Following the coup d’état, the supply of humanitarian aid has become increasingly complex, due in particular to sanctions imposed on Niger by ECOWAS, but also to restrictions imposed by Niger’s de facto authorities.

In 2023, seven Luxembourgish development NGOs worked in Niger in the sectors of agriculture, administrative management policy, training of health personnel, sanitation, basic nutrition, health education, multisectoral assistance for basic social services, financial intermediaries in the formal and informal sectors, education, school facilities and vocational training. Despite the coup, the implementation of their activities continued in 2023.