VZCZCXRO3708
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHNM #0689/01 1920939
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100939Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4411
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN 0176
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0061
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0130
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0703
RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0039
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0193

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 000689 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W (DENNISON) 
PARIS AND LONDON FOR AF WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EFIS SOCI EAID PREF NG UN
SUBJECT: NIGER: UNITED NATIONS (UN) SECRETARY GENERAL 
SPECIAL ADVISOR (SA) JAN EGELAND JUNE 2008 VISIT TO LAKE 
CHAD 
 
REF: A. 06 NIAMEY 1190 (NOTAL) 
     ¶B. 06 NIAMEY 1192 (NOTAL) 
     ¶C. 06 NIAMEY 1203 (NOTAL) 
     ¶D. NIAMEY 481 (NOTAL) 
 
¶1. Summary.  UN Secretary General SA on Conflict Prevention, 
Jan Egeland, made a June 5-6 visit to Niger to investigate 
the nexus between climate change issues and conflict. UN 
Development Program (UNDP) Senior Representative Khardiata Lo 
N'Diaye (concurrently the senior UN system official in Niger) 
and SA Egeland called on Ambassador Allen to discuss conflict 
issues in Niger and to outline his goals for the two-day 
visit.  With the aid of the UN system team, he conducted an 
information session on climate change issues in Niger for the 
diplomatic corps. He invited UN member state ambassadors to 
accompany him by UN plane on a day trip to the basin of Lake 
Chad, located in the easternmost part of Niger (the region of 
Diffa). Egeland pledged to appeal to the international 
community for funds to support efforts to replenish Lake Chad 
in Niger and said he'd share accounts of the visit at the 
climate change conference scheduled to take place in 
Copenhagen in 2009.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  SA Egeland emphasized that the purpose of his visit to 
Niger and the subregion was to obtain a firsthand account of 
climate change issues that potentially lead to conflict.  He 
met several Government of Niger (GON) officials, notably 
Nigerien President Mamadou Tandja and the GON Minister of 
Environment (M/E) Mohamed Akotey, and stated that Tandja 
emphasized in the security discussion concerns about 
banditry, drugs and arms trafficking in the region.  Egeland 
stated that there was mention of a possible regional security 
conference in July, that the venue and participating 
countries were still to be determined. 
 
¶3.  In Egeland's call on the Ambassador, he inquired about 
the insecurity in northern Niger, as well as conflicts 
between pastoralists and agriculturalists over scarce water 
resources.  Ambassador provided a brief overview of the 
situation in the north, stressing that U.S. Embassy personnel 
had not visited the conflict zone, that we receive periodic 
reports from partners who work in the north as they pass 
through Niamey.  With regard to water conflicts, Ambassador 
cited the 2006 case (ref A, B and C) surrounding the Mohamid 
Arabs as one of the most extreme cases during her tenure in 
Niger.  She said a dispute over the use of a watering hole 
led the GON Minister of Interior to issue an order to expel 
nomadic Mohamid Arabs based on a complaint from 
agriculturalists in Diffa that the herders' large camel 
troops were sucking the watering holes dry.  The diplomatic 
community had grave concerns about a potential refugee 
crisis, but the GON averted the problem by subsequently 
rescinding the expulsion order.  Ambassador added that in 
2007 there were occasional reports of incidents around 
watering holes, but generally last year's rains proved 
sufficient to prevent major hostilities over water. 
 
¶4. The Lake Chad basin visit some 1000 kilometers from Niamey 
required 10 hours of travel -- 6 hours roundtrip by plane 
from Niamey to Diffa and 4 hours round trip by road from 
Diffa to three locales (Bosso, Mamouri, Boulatoungour) that 
border the now dry basin.  Egeland and a delegation that 
included GON M/E, several ambassadors (USA, France, Germany, 
Egypt, Denmark Cooperative Senior Representative) and UN 
System partners (UNICEF, UNDP, FAO, WFP, etc.) found a dry 
bed of seashells in the basin -- not a drop of water was 
found during the entire visit.  Villagers who in past decades 
earned livelihoods from fishing the lake informed the 
delegation that as the lake dried up in the 1970s they 
converted from fishing to herding crossbred Kouri cows to 
feed their families.  The delegation was shown several 
Nigerien coast guard vessels with markings dating from the 
1930's that, according to villagers, have been beached since 
1973, the last year the Nigerien coast guard patrolled the 
lake surface that extended from Niger to Nigeria. 
 
¶5. During the visit with Diffa officials, Egeland mentioned 
reports of dam projects in neighboring countries (citing 
Cameroon as an example) believed to have cut off a vital 
water supply to Lake Chad.  He highlighted the Lake Chad 
 
NIAMEY 00000689  002 OF 002 
 
 
Basin Commission's interest in pursuing a proposal to bring 
water from the Congo to the River Chari with aspirations that 
such a project would restore the lake to its past grand 
scale.  Egeland stated he will launch an appeal to UN member 
states to fund research and development of Lake Chad.  He 
pledged to share in his climate change engagements, including 
the climate change conference scheduled to take place in 
Copenhagen in 2009, his observations of the dire situation of 
populations that rely on the lake for survival. 
 
¶6. Comment: The Lake Chad Basin Commission and the Niger 
River Basin Authority (reftel D) both place Niger in the 
center of the water dialogue.  Some Nigeriens who once 
counted on Lake Chad or continue to rely on the Niger River 
to earn income now eke out an existence by herding livestock 
or relocating to cities to search for employment.  Niger and 
its people, as well as populations across the Sahel who live 
along both basins, stand to benefit from research and 
development of water projects to replenish Lake Chad and/or 
enhance the Niger River. Both organizations now urgently 
compete for assistance from the same donor partners to 
deliver water resources critical to the survival of the 
basins' bordering populations.  End comment. 
ALLEN