2023-08-07 15:28:51
After the suspension of Belgian military cooperation with Niger, the Minister for Development Cooperation intends to send a “signal” to the military putschists.
Caroline Gennez, Vooruit Minister for Development Cooperation, finally announced on Monday a reduction in Belgian aid to Niger. She first cites the suspension of a so-called “DDD” project, carried out in Torodi, not far from the capital Niamey, for which Enabel, the Belgian cooperation agencyis associated with Defense and Diplomacy.
“Enabel will slow down its activities, all employees have been evacuated, cooperation with the central government has also ceased.”
The objective of this program is,to support and accompany Niger’s stabilization strategy and of reinforcement of the presence of the State in the department of Torodi”, indicates the site of Enabel. This in order to offer the local population “a stable environmentenhanced social cohesion and better access to basic public services”.
“Enabel will slow down its activities, all employees have been evacuated, cooperation with the central government has also ceased”, adds the press release from Caroline Gennez which therefore aligns with other states. By this she means “send a clear signal to military leaders” who carried out the putsch in Niger, adds the flemish socialist before joining the all-out condemnations of the coup.
Nothing goes to the coffers of the Nigerian state
Since the July 26 coup, Belgium has constantly explained that unlike that of Francewhich directly interrupted its cooperation program with Niger, Belgian development aid to the country “does not go directly into the coffers of the Nigerian government”. “This therefore directly benefits the population,” adds Caroline Gennez’s cabinet.
A vision of things that does not necessarily enjoy consensus in the political class and within diplomacy, where some consider that any form of support ultimately benefits the power in place.
The budget for Belgian cooperation in Niger amounts to 10 million euros per year between 2022 and 2027, specified the Gennez firm at L’Echo on Friday. It is mainly devoted to projects carried out in the fields of education, health, agro-pastoral development and youth entrepreneurship.
The Minister also takes stock of the Belgian presence in two other Sahelian states who have experienced political upheaval: Mali and Burkina Faso which jointly support the coup. In Mali, the last bilateral cooperation program ended in 2019 and preparations for a new program are suspended. The situation is identical in Burkina Faso where the current program ends at the end of the year.
1691425701
#Belgium #reduces #cooperation #Niger
