European Parliament resolution on famine in Niger
Date: 2005-09-08
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Niger, aid policy, emergency aid, food aid, humanitarian aid, hunger

C 193 E/344

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

17.8.2006

Thursday 8 September 2005

Calls on the Commission to implement concrete measures against tourism-related ‘dumping’ in the

38.
housing sector, after consulting the representative organisations of the sector;

Calls on the governments of the Member States to ensure that the rules applying to EU companies
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are fully implemented in cases of relocation to or execution of contracts in developing countries, giving
special consideration to the rights of the workers affected;

Demands that the governments of the countries concerned and EU tour operators enforce human
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rights standards, workers' rights in accordance with ILO core labour standards, the protection of the Euro-
pean tourist-consumer and the recommendations concerning tour operators;

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Calls on the governments of developing countries to introduce transparent and properly regulated
procedures for access to national markets in accordance with the recommendations of the World Tourism
Organization, as a necessary condition for all foreign investment;

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Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.

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P6_TA(2005)0338

Famine in Niger

The European Parliament,

European Parliament resolution on famine in Niger

— having regard to the UN donor appeals for food aid for Niger, amounting to USD 80,9 million,

— having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas Niger was the world's second poorest country even before poor rains and locust invasions
devastated last year's crops, leading to an estimated third of its close to 12 million people suffering
from severe food shortages, among them 800 000 children, who are facing acute malnutrition,

B. whereas, since 1900, Niger has been afflicted by nine periods of severe drought and famine and eight

plagues of locusts,

C. whereas drought-ridden areas are also known to be conducive to the outbreak of a number of com-

municable diseases such as malaria, hepatitis, cholera, typhoid fever and diarrhoea,

D. whereas Niger's food crisis is complex, and weather patterns, food production, markets, technology,
sanitation, healthcare, education, child-rearing practices, Niger's large foreign debt and widespread
poverty all play their roles,

E. whereas, until June 2005, the government of Niger refused to distribute food rations free of charge,

F. whereas this refusal was founded on a desire not to destabilise the market and on a denial of the

importance of the crisis,

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G. whereas few moderately priced government-subsidised food products were available and they were too

expensive for the poorest,

H. whereas, at a time when the death rate is startlingly high, there should be no question of subordinating

emergency food aid distribution to future food security,

I. whereas repeated UN appeals, beginning in November 2004, went almost unheeded until the situation

had reached crisis proportions,

J. whereas the humanitarian aid needs are immense, ranging from food, drinking water and drugs to

vaccines for children with a view to preventing epidemics,

K. whereas the urgency of addressing the immediate situation is clear, and ending the cycle of deprivation
in Niger and across the Sahel is a long-term challenge requiring massive investment and a genuine
commitment to eradicating hunger,

L. whereas desertification and soil nutrient depletion in the Sahel are the results of the unsustainable use
of natural resources, including the destruction of forests and bushland and the effects of climate change,

M. whereas, according to the UN's coordinator for emergency aid, it is eighty times more expensive to
intervene in an emergency than to act preventively; whereas this also applies to the neighbouring coun-
tries threatened by famine (Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Chad),

1.
Urges the international community not to turn its back on the continued suffering in Niger as food
distribution continues across the worst-affected parts of the country but financial support for emergency
operations shows worrying signs of tailing off;

2.
Calls for the hyper-endemic nature of malnutrition in Niger to be recognised, with a view to intro-
ducing an overall system for assisting those in need, including access to care for children under five and the
provision of therapeutic food products of proven value;

Calls for priority to be given to prevention, by reducing dependence on rainfall owing to its irregular-
increasing food productivity with the use of

3.
ity, developing irrigation-based agriculture (micro-dams),
manure, fertiliser and tools, and boosting the capacity of local cereal reserves;

4. Welcomes the Commission's earmarking of EUR 4,6 million in humanitarian aid to Niger, as well as
the pledge to ‘provide additional humanitarian funds should the situation continue to deteriorate’, as
announced on 1 July 2005;

Deplores the insufficient and slow reaction of the government of Niger to the looming crisis; regrets

5.
the failure of the authorities to distribute free food in the early stages of the crisis;

Regrets the absence of sufficient government intervention to prevent speculation and crisis, and calls

6.
on the government of Niger to create mechanisms to ensure that such practices do not recur;

Questions the wisdom of the total deregulation of agricultural markets undertaken under the ‘struc-

7.
tural adjustment’ policies advocated by the IMF;

8. Warns, at the same time, against the risk of misguided food aid, and calls on the international com-
munity to end food aid as soon as it considers that the situation has improved;

9.
Deplores the late response by international donors to the UN funding appeals first made nine months
ago; stresses, in this regard, the difficulty in mobilising international aid just as the rich G8 countries were
claiming to make Africa their top priority;

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Thursday 8 September 2005

10.
Calls for a substantial increase in the reserves available from the UN aid fund in order to ensure that
enough funds are available in advance so as to enable the UN aid bodies to launch relief operations speedily;

Deeply regrets the fact that African catastrophes are met with such laboured mobilisation, whereas

11.
the tsunami and its victims, among whom were Western tourists, attracted huge media attention;

12. Welcomes the coordination of ECHO emergency aid with the longer-term food security operations
administered by the Commission, as well as the clear indication of rural development and food security as a
priority in the Niger Country Strategy Paper;

13.
Calls on the international donors also to focus on health-related aid, for instance in order to improve
access to clean water, distribute rehydration tablets, and support and expand existing health services so as to
prevent outbreaks of communicable diseases;

Calls on the international donors to coordinate their aid strategies for Niger with each other, as well
14.
as with the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and other regional and local
actors; stresses the importance of making this aid long-term and part of a regional strategy to escape the
cycle of poverty and starvation;

Expresses its concern over food availability in the neighbouring countries of Mali and Burkina Faso,

15.
and calls for close monitoring of the situation in the wider region;

Calls on the Commission and Council to improve the early warning system in order to monitor

16.
sensitive regions where famine may arise, so as to allow earlier action and prevent disasters;

Stresses that the core problem in Niger is chronic and widespread poverty, and that the country has

17.
no margin to build contingency stocks to meet the kinds of need created by the crisis;

18.
Calls on the Commission and Council to acknowledge the effects of global warming on sub-Saharan
Africa and act in Europe to mitigate those effects by adopting stringent CO2 reduction strategies at Union
level;

Considers that the question of the exploitation of natural resources needs to be taken into account in

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trade negotiations with African countries;

Calls for action to ensure that the cancellation of Niger's external debt announced at the G8 summit

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actually takes place;

21.
Calls on the Commission to implement, once the emergency is over, a comprehensive policy for
tackling the root causes of the crisis, in order to address the underlying structural causes and improve
agricultural productivity in the region;

Calls on the governments of the region to implement a policy of sustainable development in the

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agricultural sector;

Calls on the UN General Assembly to define, at its September 2005 session,

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international aid
arrangements and instruments, with a view to eradicating poverty and hunger in the world, pursuant to
the millennium goals;

24.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the African Union,
the UN Secretary-General, the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, and the Govern-
ments of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.