Niger: Assessing the humanitarian response

This Humanitarian Policy Group briefing note highlights some of the questions that will need to be answered in order to explain the slowness of the international response to the 2005 famine in Niger. It argues that this is not just a case of donors failing to provide resources quickly enough. Questions also need to be asked about the quality of early- warning and assessment analysis; the capacity of humanitarian actors to respond; the appropriateness of the proposed responses; and the preparedness of development actors for what should have been a predictable crisis. In addition to all of these questions, the authors highlight that the scale and extent of food insecurity and possible crises in Mali and Mauritania must continue to be closely monitored.