In follow-up to the meeting held on 19 May 2022 in Niamey with Mr. Modibo Traoré, Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Niger, fresh consultations were held virtually on 01 June 2022 with him and relevant United Nations (UN) Agencies active in the field of food security in Niger, including Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), represented by Mr. Luc Genot, the World Food Program (WFP), represented by Mr. Jean-Noel Gentile, and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), represented by Mr. Stefano Savi, while the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) was represented at the meeting by Dr. Ismail Abdelhamid, Director of Programmes & Projects Office, and Mr. Abdula Manafi Mutualo, Senior Liaison Officer, and Mr. Ali Kaoura, Director General of Regional Office of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Niger was also in attendance.
The exchanges were held with the understanding of comparing notes on each Agency’s expertise and areas of intervention towards having synergies and avoid duplication in implementation of relevant programmes for support the Republic of Niger’s efforts on ensuring food security for its people.
In this context, it was agreed documents and strategies would be exchanged so as to ensure that a specific Joint Plan on Food Security Intervention for Niger would be developed for further consideration and implementation in Niger, and if successful, the same would be implemented in other Sahelian countries, including Chad and Mali.
It should be mentioned here that the meeting under reference may also be contextualized in the broader UN-OIC Coordination Mechanism that has its meetings every two years, which the next one is expected to be held on 18-19 July 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland.
