Secretary-General Visits Ouallam Refugee Camp in Niger

Secretary-General António Guterres (under the umbrella) visits Ouallam refugee camp in northern Niger. "I will be your spokesperson and will demand that the international community not only provides the humanitarian aid you need but also supports development, because it is with education, health and the creation of jobs, that terrorism can be beaten." said the secretary-General in the camp.

Ouallam and two other neighbouring districts in the area currently shelter some 28,000 people who have fled their homes because of violence, including terrorist acts, in the volatile wider Sahel region of Africa. Around 8,000 have left as refugees from neighbouring Mali to the north and another 20,000 have been displaced from 18 nearby villages and towns. Ouallam and its surrounding districts is a microcosm of the challenges facing Niger, where, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), some 264,000 Nigeriens are internally displaced due to a series of factors including deteriorating security and the effects of changing climatic conditions as well as overgrazing and deforestation.