Niger union calls on MSF

2008-10-29 19:05

Niamey - A leading trade union body in the poverty-stricken west African state of Niger called on Wednesday for a ban on the work of a French medical charity to be lifted.

In July the government in Niamey suspended the activities of the Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF - Doctors without Borders) charity in the south central region of Maradi on the grounds that it was refusing to work with public services and sustaining "endemic malnutrition" of children.

"This seemingly fallacious measure has unbearable social consequences for a country as poor as Niger," the federation of workers' unions in Niger said in a statement.

These included the "worsening of the situation of several thousand malnourished children" and the loss of more than 500 jobs of locally-employed staff.

- SAPA