Press encounter by the Secretary-General upon leaving Zinder airport

SG: I came to see to things for myself and I am very happy I came.

I was able to visit the children's hospital in Zinder and also see the MSF [Médecins sans Frontières] operation. I think both are effective and are helping the children.

I think it's important that we, as the international community, work with the Government to deal with this emergency, not just in the short term, but also the long-term issues of food security to ensure that in another three to five years we don't come back to the same problem.

So I will have the opportunity to discuss with the President [Mamadou Tandja], NGOs and UN agencies working in Niger how we can pool our efforts to make a difference, not only for the short term but also for the long term.

For the immediate [term], we need to do all we can to help those in need and particularly the children we saw. The indications are that the next crops will do well and that will also be of help.