This is a summary of what was said by Marixie Mercado, UNICEF spokesperson in Geneva – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

GENEVA, 27 September 2019 - "An estimated 123,000 children have been affected by the flooding. They are of course most vulnerable to respiratory infections and water-borne disease.

"With the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Relief and the Directorate General of Civil Protection, we are working to bring assistance to flood-affected families. We have been able to distribute basic but essential items - mosquito nets, soap, water storage and material to construct basic shelters. We’ve so far distributed 947 kits to 6,600 people, with more to come in next days.

"Because data collection has been such a bottleneck in the past, slowing down assistance, we have distributed 50 tablets that are helping the government and humanitarian partners with electronic data collection that should help trigger a faster response.

"As OCHA has said, Niger is facing simultaneous emergencies that are stretching the capacities of government and partners to respond. Children in Niger face malnutrition, recurrent disease outbreaks and epidemics, cyclical floods, drought and displacement. This is of course exacerbated by instability in neighbouring countries, which has resulted in an influx of thousands of refugees, returnees and migrants, all of whom need access to basic social services for survival.

"Recent weather forecasts give us reason to worry that the numbers of children affected by the floods will rise."

Media Contacts

Marixie Mercado

UNICEF Geneva

Tel: +41 79 559 7172

Email: mmercado@unicef.org

Joe English

UNICEF New York

Tel: +1 917 893 0692

Email: jenglish@unicef.org