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Article shared by Tom McDermott Click here for the article.   See AI update from  UNICEF  , UN and other sources below. Summary JNIM, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, is intensifying attacks across the Sahel (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger), making it the global epicenter of jihadi violence. Exploiting weak governance and instability exacerbated by recent coups, JNIM seeks to establish a Salafi-Islamist state and is expanding its threat towards coastal West African states. Quotes "The militant threat is progressively spreading southward towards coastal West African states like Benin and Togo, raising alarms about potential regional instability." "The Sahel region is now considered the global epicenter of jihadi violence, accounting for over half of all terrorism-related deaths in 2024." The following update is composed with AI. It builds on the Washington Post article and statements by UNICEF, UN and Human Rights Watch sources. Click here for UNICEF and additional source...

Stefano Savi, UNICEF Rep Niger “The crisis unfolding in the Republic of Niger continues to pose an ever greater danger for millions of vulnerable children in the country. “The current situation is of great concern and adds a heavy burden to an already dire humanitarian landscape, where the prevalence of severe malnutrition amongst children is extremely high - one of the worst in West and Central Africa. “At present, more than two million children have been impacted by the crisis and are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. “Even before the recent civil unrest and political instability in Niger, an estimated 1.5 million children under the age of 5 were forecast to be malnourished in 2023, with at least 430,000 children expected to suffer from the deadliest form of malnutrition. This is a figure likely to rise if food prices continue to spike and an economic downturn hits families, households, and incomes.” “UNICEF continues to deliver humanitarian support to children throughou...

United Nations agencies scramble to replace depleting aid stocks as regional sanctions start to kick in. A group of women and their children rush towards an emergency feeding centre in the town of Guidan Roumdji, southern Niger [File: Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters] Published On 8 Aug 2023 Click here for the original article Niger’s military coup is disrupting humanitarian efforts by the United Nations as border and airspace closures threaten to cut off supplies of medicine and food, says a UN official. UN aid agencies are scrambling to replenish depleting stocks just as regional sanctions potentially increase the number of people in need, its humanitarian chief in Niger, Louise Aubin, warned on Tuesday. “The risk is that we start running out of assistance materials to be able to help out people – I’m talking about simple things that are so lifesaving,” Aubin told Reuters news agency, listing food, vaccines and cash as areas of concern. “Some people will soon be feeling the pinch of this...