Food Aid for Disabled Children in Niger

Challenge

Chronic food shortages can often impact those who are most vulnerable – groups who are routinely overlooked in their own communities. In parts of Niger, children and adults with disabilities tend to have fewer resources and experience limited access to community services. Persons with disabilities suffer higher rates of malnutrition and children with disabilities are less likely to attend school.

Promise

Our Food Aid for Disabled Children project brought food and education to Nigeriens living with disabilities. The project provided two meals a day to impoverished children with disabilities in the capital of Niger to ensure they received the nutrition they needed and keep them in school. Each month, almost 1,600 people with disabilities – most of them blind – benefited from our work. We also raised awareness about related health issues by engaging community  leaders, parents of children with disabilities and community members with disabilities in project activities.

Impact

Our project delivered results including:

• 167 blind children and 141 children with physical disabilities received hot meals through two school canteens that specialize in educating children with special needs;
• daily dry rations were given to more than 1,500 adults with physical disabilities;
• attendance increased by 20 percent at the two participating schools;
• more than 3,000 people were trained – including more than 50 percent women – to raise awareness about the rights of people with disabilities.

Sustainable Development Goals Addressed

Partners

Funder: United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Collaborators: Government of Niger; Soli Abdourahamane School for the Blind; Hassane Bana Ba School for the Deaf; Union Nationale des Aveugles du Niger (UNAN); HANDICAP NIGER.