Help Children in Niger

Our Work for Children in Niger

Save the Children has been a leading charity for children in Niger since the food crisis of 2005. 

We were there for children and families in need in 2017, when a combination of drought, economic shocks and conflict converged to erupt into a severe, multi-dimensional hunger crisis across multiple countries, including Niger, with many desperate people ending up in food insecure refugee settlements in Niger.

As well as emergency response, we run long-term programs to support health and nutrition, food security and livelihoods, education and protection for children in greatest need.

Working closely with local communities, we design programs to help vulnerable children from early childhood to early adulthood — giving them a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm along the way.

Here are some recent examples of our work:

A healthy start in life

• We’re helping ensure babies are delivered safely, and that children receive lifesaving immunizations to protect them from killer diseases
• We're working with communities to improve health, hygiene and sanitation
• Emergency evidence highlights the importance of WASH in relation to improved nutrition, as demonstrated through our signature Clean Household Approach, in which we use effective behavior change, marketing and policy strategies to promote household behaviors that reduce the risk of childhood illness
• We’re involving traditional and religious leaders as important stakeholders in social and behavior change approaches – for example, in our LAHIA project, faith leaders supported our WASH programs

The opportunity to learn

• Our education programs help prepare toddlers and young children for school, transform primary school-aged kids into lifelong learners and provide children with disabilities accommodations in their schools 
• Our work with adolescents focuses on that challenging transition between childhood and adulthood, helping ensure it’s a positive one by teaching them money, job and relationship skills
• We also provide health education and care to children in need through our school health programs to help children stay healthy, well-nourished and in school
• Children in our early learning programs make great intellectual and social gains later in life program for young adolescents, including developing a club activity guide
• We’re working to improve education with a focus on teacher training, literacy, numeracy and community engagement, with special attention on girls, in addition to renovating schools, providing essential supplies and promoting child-friendly policies
• Our livelihoods programs are helping families become more resilient in the face of seasonal stresses and economic shocks – as well as distributing livestock, seeds and fertilizers, we use cash transfers to boost local economies and avert food crises

Protection from harm

• We successfully used community approaches to address gender norms, notably with adolescents, to promote male engagement through our Model Husband School approach

Emergency response

• Our infant and young child feeding toolkit and programs are focusing on ensuring parents have the knowledge they need to breastfeed/feed their children under age 2, even in emergencies