U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
Sahelian West Africa - Humanitarian Emergency
Fact Sheet #5, Fiscal Year (FY) 2005  September 2, 2005


Note:  The last fact sheet was dated August 26, 2005.

NUMBERS AT A GLANCE
SOURCE

Affected population - Niger  2,700,000
Government of Niger, August 19, 2005

Affected population - Mali  1,000,000
WFP (1), August 5, 2005

Affected population - Mauritania  600,000
WFP, August 5, 2005

Affected population - Burkina Faso 500,000
WFP, August 5, 2005

Total Affected Population (2)  4,800,000



Total FY 2005 USAID Assistance to Niger, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso,
Senegal, and Sahel Regional Locust Response   $134,098,006

1 U.N. World Food Program
2 Affected populations may have varying levels of need, from complete food
   distributions to little or no assistance.



CURRENT SITUATION

Regional Update

- The Assistant Administrator of USAID's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict,
and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/DCHA), Michael Hess, traveled to Niger
and Mali from August 19 to 28 to visit USAID-funded projects in affected
areas and conduct humanitarian assessments with USAID Disaster Assistance
Response Team (USAID/DART) representatives in the field. Assistant
Administrator Hess and his delegation reported that fields are green and
crops appear abundant and healthy throughout Mali, and that Niger will
probably have a good harvest this year.  However, Assistant Administrator
Hess expressed concern with household debt levels throughout the region
due to household borrowing to survive the current lean season and
carry-over debt from the lean season in 2004.


Niger Update

- From August 9 to 26, the USAID/DART, including the public health and
nutrition advisor, visited Diffa, Tillaberi, and Zinder regions to monitor
partner program implementation and identify unmet needs.  The team also
met with NGOs and U.N. partners in Niamey to better understand the
nutrition situation countrywide.  The USAID/DART found that the nutrition
crisis is localized, data collection is poor, and the health system does
not function adequately.  Some households have increased vulnerability due
to poor harvests and animal losses in 2004, and poor feeding and caring
for infants and children contribute to malnutrition.

- Based on these findings, the USAID/DART recommended that emergency
responses to save the lives of malnourished children be coupled with
activities that build the resilience of poorer and vulnerable households,
including livelihoods recovery programs such as cash-for-work,
cash-for-relief, animal health, food production, and seed voucher
programs.  In addition, activities that allow the health system and the
Government of Niger to respond to the recurring nutrition crisis, as well
as appropriate health and hygiene messages, are critical to address
chronic acute malnutrition and save lives in the long term in vulnerable
areas of Niger.

- In Niger, Medecins Sans Frontieres/France (MSF/F) reports treating
19,414 severely malnourished children since January 1 at the MSF/F
therapeutic feeding centers (TFCs) in Tahoua and Maradi regions.  During
the week of August 8 to 14, MSF/F admitted 1,900 children.  As of August
14, MSF/F was treating 873 children as inpatients and 5,853 as
outpatients.  MSF/Switzerland began operations on July 21 in southern
Zinder Region and is currently treating 450 children as inpatients and
1,800 as outpatients.  On August 15, MSF/Holland opened a center in Diffa
Region.

- According to the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the U.N. World Health
Organization (WHO), 188 cases of cholera with 18 deaths - representing a
case-fatality rate (CFR) of 9.6 percent - were reported in Tahoua Region
between July 13 and August 29.  Last year, 2,176 cases and 57 deaths were
reported.  Cases are spreading along the Magia wadi, a temporary river
formed during the rainy season.

- The MOH has reported 277,620 malaria cases and 547 deaths in Niger since
January 1.  The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) and WHO are currently
distributing approximately 130,000 insecticide-treated bed nets to
severely malnourished children in the most vulnerable regions.  WHO
reports that approximately 777,000 cases and 2,000

deaths related to malaria are notified each year in Niger.  The months of
greatest risk for exposure are July to September, which coincide with the
rainy season.


- UNICEF reported 2,132 measles cases with 16 deaths between January 1 and
July 23 in Niger.  During the same period in 2004, 63,726 measles cases
and 487 deaths were reported.  UNICEF attributes this year's reduction in
cases to the 98 percent coverage achieved during the measles vaccination
campaigns conducted in December 2004 in 6 of the 8 regions of Niger.
UNICEF and MOH plan to conduct a final measles campaign this month in the
two regions of the country not already covered.


Mali Update

- On August 30, the USAID/DART traveled to Timbuktu and stopped at a
cattle market in the village of Kahume.  The area had good pasturelands,
and livestock appeared to be in excellent condition.  According to local
reports to the USAID/DART, in normal times, one cow is worth 100,000 to
150,000 CFA ($186 to $280), while one goat is worth 15,000 CFA ($28).
Animals were selling for much less than this:  goats on average sold for
5,000 CFA ($9), and cows sold for 45,000 to 50,000 CFA ($83 to $93).
Rice and millet were selling at 30,000 CFA ($56) per 100 kg bag, higher
than the average 10,000 CFA ($18) for 100 kg of millet and 20,000 CFA
($37) for 100 kg of rice.

- From August 26 to 28, Assistant Administrator Hess traveled with
USAID/DART and USAID/Mali representatives to affected areas of Gao Region,
including N'Tillit and Bourem districts.  The delegation met with
government officials, NGOs, and community groups to discuss the causes and
effects of the current food insecurity situation, focusing on water
management, livestock health, agriculture, nutrition, and household debt
levels.  The delegation also visited the TFC opened on July 1 at Gao
Hospital and operated by Action Contre le Faim (ACF).  On the day of the
visit, 10 children were receiving treatment in the nutrition ward.  The
TFC treated 11 children in July and 18 as of the date of the visit in
August.

- On August 25, the USAID/DART traveled to Tin-Aouker, approximately 70 km
north of Gao, for the weekly livestock market. Local officials noted that
they had received four to five consecutive years of poor rains, with last
year being the most difficult, and that the area was not affected by
locusts in 2004 because there was no grass to devour.  The USAID/DART
observed that the weekly market in this area, which locals stated had
boasted hundreds of animals in past years, contained approximately a dozen
goats.  Residents noted that animals were not being sold both because many
had died, and because animals currently fetch poor prices.  Area residents
told the USAID/DART that in addition to food, they are concerned with
expanding and improving water points, and they need better access to
credit so that young people who are unemployed could begin small community
businesses rather than leaving the community in search of work.

- On August 23 and 24, the USAID/DART program officer met with six leading
humanitarian NGOs in Bamako to discuss food insecurity, the effects of the
situation on country programs, and whether these NGOs had changed
strategies as a result.  Although opinions varied from considering the
situation an emergency to viewing it as normal for this time of year,
several NGOs had shifted programming to some extent.  These NGOs believe
that the present situation is not an emergency that approaches levels of
severity of previous years or in other countries, and they hold that the
immediate needs are likely to resolve themselves with the next harvest.
However, food insecurity is severe in scattered pockets that are often
remote and hard to access, primarily in the north of Mali.  The NGOs
agreed that structural problems - which ultimately must be addressed by
development programs - are the root cause of the food insecurity.

- According to the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in
the Sahel (CILSS), the water levels in all the watercourses in Mali rose
in July.  Hydrological and climatic forecasts indicate that good rainfall
conditions will extend into September.  Some mature solitary adult desert
locusts were observed in central Adrar des Iforas and Tamesna; as
ecological conditions improve, small-scale locust breeding could occur.


Burkina Faso Update

- According to the USAID/DART, beginning in November 2004, the Government
of Burkina Faso (GOBF) undertook a survey of households in northern
Burkina Faso that had lost 100 percent of their crops, and the GOBF
allocated 500 MT of cereals to these households.  In February 2005, as
prices continued to increase, the GOBF released 2,000 MT of millet, sold
at a subsidized price of 5,000 CFA ($9) per 100 kg bag, to the market to
stabilize the prices.  In May/June 2005, the GOBF released another 7,000
MT of millet, sold at 10,000 CFA ($18) per 100 kg bag, to 11 affected
provinces.  In July 2005, the GOBF released 5,000 MT of millet for sale at
10,000 CFA ($18) per 100 kg bag.

- From August 24 to August 27, the USAID/DART conducted a field assessment
in the Northern Region, composed of Loroum, Yatenga, Zondoma, and Passore
provinces, and the Sahel Region, composed of Soum, Seno, Oudalan, and
Yagha provinces.  The USAID/DART's objectives for this assessment were to
conduct focus group discussions on the food security situation with
village residents in Yatenga, Loroum, and Seno provinces, and to meet with
community leaders in areas of Seno and Oudalan provinces where residents
benefited from seed fairs.  The USAID/DART consistently found that
residents had been eating almost exclusively wild leaves over a long
period of time.  Eating leaves and wild fruits is a lean season coping
mechanism practiced throughout the Sahel when families run short of food
supplies before the next harvest comes.  In all areas visited, the
USAID/DART found residents selling their assets, including jewelry, tools,
and animals, to purchase food.

- During the August 24 to 27 assessment, the USAID/DART discussed Catholic
Relief Services' (CRS) May and June 2005 seed fair programs with a village
chief of Falagountou in Seno Province and with a government official in
Oudalan Province.  Both individuals stated that CRS' seed fair
interventions were the appropriate activity undertaken at exactly the
right time.  The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) reported that farmers who
benefited from this program have fields with crops in an advanced state of
development.  According to local officials, program beneficiaries will
begin harvesting in approximately two weeks.

- The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has raised the number of people
estimated to live below the poverty line in Burkina Faso from 1 million to
1.5 million.  This population requires assistance due to weak purchasing
power and lack of productive assets.  In meetings with the USAID/DART, the
MOA acknowledged that the provinces of Loroum, Soum, and Oudalan, among
others, are experiencing food crises, but described these situations as
isolated problems.  The MOA is interested in pursuing small-scale
irrigation projects and dry season farming in northern Burkina Faso, and
reinforcing the food security reserve.

- On August 23, the USAID/DART met with an official from WFP.  WFP noted
that the situation in Burkina Faso is not as severe as that of Niger or
Mali because Burkina Faso had three years of relatively good harvests,
with 2002/2003 being an average year and 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 both
surplus years.  Burkina Faso was also not as affected by locusts or
drought.  Additionally, early emergency interventions by the GOBF, U.N.
agencies, and NGOs, starting in November 2004 and scheduled to continue
until October 2005, alleviated the food insecurity situation in Burkina
Faso.  WFP noted that coordination between organizations involved in food
security issues has been excellent, and that more than 90 percent of all
food distributions have gone to the provinces identified as most affected.

- On August 22, USAID/DART and U.S. Embassy/Ouagadougou representatives
met with a food security specialist from the Famine Early Warning Systems
Network (FEWS NET) to discuss the food security situation in Burkina Faso.
The FEWS NET representative stated that pastoralists in northern Burkina
Faso have no food reserves, and water for animals is scarce.  In some
areas, the terms of trade have deteriorated from 4 goats for 100 kg of
millet in 2004 to 10 goats for 100 kg of millet in mid-2005.


Mauritania Update

- Two USAID/DART representatives have been conducting assessments with
WFP, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and FEWS NET
representatives in the past week.

- On August 27 and 28, the USAID/DART visited Rosso, Trarza Region to hold
evaluation meetings with the communities of Hassy Hamidine and Mbalal.
On August 30, the USAID/DART traveled to Ayoun in Hodh el Gharbi Region,
and Nema in Hodh Ech Chargui Region, to meet with NGOs and perform site
visits to Bassikinou, Fassala, Bousteila, and Hodh Ech Chargui.



USAID ASSISTANCE

Regional Response

- The USAID-supported West Africa Regional Program (WARP) handles West
African development challenges that are most effectively addressed at a
regional level.  WARP works closely with USAID missions in the region,
including USAID's bilateral missions in Mali and Senegal, and U.S.
embassies in countries where USAID does not have a mission.  The Sahelian
countries benefit from WARP through their membership in such organizations
as the West African Economic and Monetary Union, the Economic Community of
West African States, and CILSS.  WARP supports activities in 19 West
African countries, including Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, and
Niger.  WARP representatives are currently working in the region to
develop strategies to control market fluctuation and implement near-term
market interventions.

- In response to the 2004/2005 locust infestation, USAID provided nearly
$14 million to support locust control efforts throughout Sahelian West
Africa in FY 2005.  Through a grant to FAO, USAID supported agricultural
relief and recovery programs, including the provision of livestock feed
support and agricultural inputs for dry season gardening activities, in
Niger.  USAID provided support to the Government of Mali for combating the
locust infestation, providing pesticides, and funding related control
activities.  In Mauritania and Senegal, USAID supported locust prevention
and response activities, including an aerial spraying campaign.


Niger

USAID has provided more than $19 million in assistance to Niger to date in
FY 2005.  These funds have supported food security and agriculture
projects, emergency and development food assistance, and airlifts of
fortified food for emergency nutrition programs.  USAID assistance funds
programs focused on community-based development, child survival and
health, youth, and human rights.  USAID has also provided 12,230 MT of
development food assistance and 7,860 MT of emergency food assistance to
Niger in FY 2005.


Mali

To date in FY 2005, USAID has provided more than $39 million in assistance
to Mali.  In FY 2005, USAID has provided 1,710 MT of development food
commodities and 1,000 MT of emergency food commodities to Mali.
Additionally, USAID's development program in Mali works to expand economic
opportunities, particularly for the rural poor; provides high impact
health services to improve the health and welfare of women and children;
mitigates the spread of HIV/AIDS; improves the quality of basic education;
consolidates democracy through support of decentralization; supports human
rights; and accelerates overall development by making information more
widely accessible.


Mauritania

To date in FY 2005, USAID has provided more than $16 million to various
programs in Mauritania.  USAID activities in Mauritania primarily focus on
improving food security.  USAID has provided 19,330 MT of development food
assistance and 16,240 MT of emergency food assistance to Mauritania in FY
2005.  USAID also funded programs addressing human rights and
community-based development activities.


Burkina Faso

USAID has provided approximately $18 million in assistance to date in FY
2005.  USAID focuses the majority of its assistance to Burkina Faso on
improving food security.  In FY 2005, USAID has provided 24,240 MT of
development food commodities.  USAID also funds programs that support
local human rights, community-based development activities, political
party development, and technical assistance for elections.


Senegal

To date in FY 2005, USAID has provided nearly $31 million to Senegal.
USAID activities in Senegal focus largely on the sectors of health,
economic growth, agriculture, and education.  USAID has provided 4,390 MT
of development food assistance to Senegal in FY 2005.



BACKGROUND

In 2004, an early end to the rains and desert locust damage to pasture
lands adversely affected pasture availability and cereal production in
Sahelian West Africa.  These events exacerbated existing poverty and
vulnerabilities and resulted in elevated food insecurity in agro-pastoral
and pastoral zones in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania.  The
situation in Niger is considered to be an emergency, with more than 2.7
million people affected.  In Burkina Faso, Mali, and Mauritania, more than
2 million people are affected, and the situation in these countries
warrants close monitoring.

Regional assessments have used the word "affected" to impart that this
population was impacted in some way by either locust infestation or the
early cessation of rains.  Affected populations have varying levels of
humanitarian needs.  Some may require food distributions, while others may
require little or no assistance of any kind.  USAID recognizes that
endemic poverty and underdevelopment are critical factors contributing to
the current humanitarian emergency and is committed to addressing these
factors through an appropriate combination of USAID development and
humanitarian assistance.


According to the USAID-funded FEWS NET, recent assessments continue to
show consistent rainfall and good crop and pasture conditions in most of
Niger and almost all of the rest of Sahelian West Africa.  The short-term
outlook for these conditions is for steady improvement.  Prospects for
crop harvests in Niger and the rest of the Sahel are generally good to
excellent, with the exception of certain areas in the pastoral zone of the
Tillaberi and western Tahoua regions in Niger; these zones had
intermittent rains and an extended dry spell this year.  Loss of assets or
livestock over the past year may result in continued vulnerability for
some families beyond the harvest.

In response to the humanitarian emergency, USAID deployed a USAID/DART to
Sahelian West Africa on August 3, 2005.  USAID/DART staff include public
health and nutrition specialists, a water and sanitation specialist, food
aid officers, and information officers.  Additional USAID/DART members
already in the region include regional advisors for North and West Africa,
a development officer, and a FEWS NET representative.  On August 11, USAID
activated a Response Management Team (RMT) in Washington, D.C. to assist
the USAID/DART.

FAO reported on August 25 that low numbers of scattered solitarious adult
locusts have been found in Mauritania, Mali, and Niger, and reports of
limited locust breeding have come from Mauritania.  Ground surveys
supplemented by helicopters are underway in the Sahel to detect the first
signs of an increase in the locust population.  However, locust control
operations in these countries have not been needed this growing season.




USAID ASSISTANCE TO NIGER

Implementing Partner
  Activity
  Location
  Amount

USAID/OFDA ASSISTANCE (3)

CRS
  Food Security/Agriculture
  Tillaberi and Zinder
  $494,513

FAO
  Food Security/Agriculture
  Countrywide
  $50,000




UNICEF
  Airlift of 251 MT of fortified food for emergency nutrition programs
  Countrywide
  $543,826

World Vision
  Nutrition
  Maradi and Zinder
  $1,087,711

Helen Keller International
  Nutrition
  Diffa
  $1,091,471

WFP
  Humanitarian Air Passenger Service
  Countrywide
  $125,000

CDC
  Nutritional Survey
  Countrywide
  $97,000

TOTAL USAID/OFDA
  $3,489,521

USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE

Consortium including Africare, Catholic Relief Services, CARE, and Helen
   Keller International
  12,230 MT of P.L. 480 Title II Development Food Assistance
  Agadez, Dosso, Tahoua, and Zinder
  $7,390,000

WFP
  7,860 MT of P.L. 480 Title II Emergency Food Assistance
  Countrywide
  $5,800,000

TOTAL USAID/FFP
  $13,190,000

USAID/AFR ASSISTANCE


  Youth Programs

  $500,000


  Democracy and Human Rights Fund

  $92,000


  Special Self-Help

  $74,000


  Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative

  $1,050,000


  WARP Support

  $732,000

TOTAL USAID/AFR
  $2,448,000

TOTAL USAID ASSISTANCE TO NIGER IN FY 2005
  $19,127,521


3 USAID/OFDA funding represents anticipated or actual obligated amounts as
of September 2, 2005.




USAID ASSISTANCE TO MALI

Implementing Partner
  Activity
  Location
  Amount

USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE (4)

Africare
  1,710 MT of P.L. 480 Title II Development Food Assistance
  Timbuktu Region
  $930,000

WFP
  1,000 MT of P.L. 480 Title II Emergency Food Assistance
  Countrywide
  $667,100

TOTAL USAID/FFP
  $1,597,100

USAID/AFR ASSISTANCE


  Economic Growth (5)

  $1,723,000


  Education

  $5,755,000


  Democracy and Governance

  $1,447,000


  Health

  $15,705,000


  Agriculture/Environment (5)

  $11,044,000


  Democracy and Human Rights Fund

  $70,000


  Special Self-Help Fund

  $77,000


  Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative

  $725,000


  WARP Support

  $1,389,000

TOTAL USAID/AFR
  $37,935,000

TOTAL USAID ASSISTANCE TO MALI IN FY 2005
  $39,532,100


4 For Reporting purposes, USAID/Mali's P.L. 480 Title II program is
combined with the P.L. 480 Title II program in Chad. The implementing
partner is responsible for reporting on both Mali and Chad.  The
referenced figures are therefore not reflected in Mali's Congressional
Budget Justification (CBJ).

5 This total includes funding for the locust response.




USAID ASSISTANCE TO MAURITANIA

Implementing Partner
  Activity
  Location
  Amount

USAID/OFDA ASSISTANCE6

DFS
  Locust Response

  $177,777

World Vision
  Supplementary Feeding Program

  $50,000

TOTAL USAID/OFDA
  $227,777

USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE

World Vision and the Doulos Community
  19,330 MT of P.L. 480 Title II Development Food Assistance
  Nouakchott
  $6,579,600

WFP
  16,240 MT of P.L. 480 Title II Emergency Food Assistance
  Brakna, Gorgol, Tagant, Assaba, and Hodh El Gharbi
  $8,671,700

TOTAL USAID/FFP
  $15,251,300


USAID/AFR ASSISTANCE


  Democracy and Human Rights Fund

  $80,000


  Special Self-Help Fund

  $87,000


  Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative

  $250,000


  WARP Support

  $459,000

TOTAL USAID/AFR
  $876,000

TOTAL USAID ASSISTANCE TO MAURITANIA IN FY 2005
  $16,355,077


6 USAID/OFDA funding represents anticipated or actual obligated amounts as
of September 2, 2005.



USAID ASSISTANCE TO BURKINA FASO

Implementing Partner
  Activity
  Location
  Amount

USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE

Africare, Catholic Relief Services
  24,240 MT of P.L. 480 Title II Development Food Assistance
  Zondoma province (Africare); all 45 provinces (CRS)
  $15,570,000

TOTAL USAID/FFP
  $15,570,000

USAID/AFR ASSISTANCE


  Democracy and Human Rights Fund

  $69,500


  Special Self-Help fund

  $104,000


  WARP Support

  $1,628,000


  Economic Support Fund

  $463,000

TOTAL USAID/AFR
  $2,264,500

TOTAL USAID ASSISTANCE TO BURKINA FASO IN FY 2005
  $17,834,500




USAID ASSISTANCE TO SENEGAL

Implementing Partner
  Activity
  Location
  Amount

USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE

Counterpart International
  4,390 MT of P.L. 480 Title II Development Food Assistance
  Countrywide
  $2,268,700

TOTAL USAID/FFP
  $2,268,700

USAID/AFR ASSISTANCE


  Economic Growth (7)

  $2,474,810


  Basic Education

  $2,927,000


  Democracy and Governance

  $1,655,000


  Health

  $14,775,000


  Agriculture/Environment (7)

  $5,188,000


  Human Rights

  $500,000


  Democracy and Human Rights Fund

  $70,500


  Special Self-Help Fund

  $80,000


  Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative

  $175,000


  WARP Support

  $803,000

TOTAL USAID/AFR
  $28,648,310

TOTAL USAID ASSISTANCE TO SENEGAL IN FY 2005
  $30,917,010


7 This total includes funding for the locust response.



USAID REGIONAL ASSISTANCE TO LOCUST RESPONSE

Implementing Partner
  Activity
  Location
  Amount

USAID/OFDA ASSISTANCE (8)

FAO
  Locust Response
  Chad
  $50,000

AFCAP
  Locust Response
  Mauritania and Senegal
  $2,555,761

DFS
  Locust Response
  Mauritania and Senegal
  $3,101,735

Admin
  Locust Response
  Mauritania and Senegal
  $74,302

USAID/Senegal
  Locust Response
  Mauritania and Senegal
  $50,000

Gov. of Morocco
  Locust Response
  Morocco
  $1,500,000

TOTAL USAID/OFDA
  $7,331,798

USAID/AFR ASSISTANCE9

USAID/WARP
  Locust Response
  Regional
  $1,500,000

TOTAL USAID/AFR
  $1,500,000

USAID/ANE ASSISTANCE

Gov. of Morocco
  Locust Response
  Morocco
  $1,500,000

TOTAL USAID/ANE
  $1,500,000

TOTAL USAID REGIONAL ASSISTANCE TO LOCUST RESPONSE IN FY 2005
  $10,331,798



8 USAID/OFDA funding represents anticipated or actual obligated amounts as
of September 2, 2005.

9 In addition, USAID/AFR provided $1 million to Mali and $2.5 million to
Senegal for locust response, which is reflected in the "USAID Assistance
to Mali" and "USAID Assistance to Senegal" charts.


TOTAL USAID ASSISTANCE TO BURKINA FASO, MALI, MAURITANIA, NIGER, AND SAHEL
LOCUST RESPONSE IN FY 2005

  $134,098,006



PUBLIC DONATION INFORMATION

The most effective way people can assist relief efforts is by making cash
contributions to humanitarian organizations that are conducting relief
operations.  Information on identifying such organizations is available in
the "How Can I Help" section of www.usaid.gov - Keyword: Sahel, or by
calling The Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI) at
703-276-1914.

USAID encourages cash donations because they:  allow aid professionals to
procure the exact items needed (often in the affected region); reduce the
burden on scarce resources (such as transportation routes, staff time,
warehouse space, etc); can be transferred very quickly and without
transportation costs; support the economy of the disaster-stricken region;
and ensure culturally, dietary, and environmentally appropriate
assistance.

More information can be found at:

- USAID:  www.usaid.gov - Keyword: Donations

- The Center for International Disaster Information:  www.cidi.org or
   703-276-1914

- Information on relief activities of the humanitarian community can be
   found at www.reliefweb.int.


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