"What did you do for Niger Christine?"

When a Greek non profit organisation initiated a programme of food and free medical care...

 

Paraphrasing the title of a famous movie, this is the question that someone could ask the iron lady of the IMF; what did she do in Niger, since Mrs Lagarde's worries and tears were fake to say the least.

The role of lender can give her the right to be condescending towards Greeks and how they should live, but the role that the IMF has played in the tormented Republic of Niger does not allow her to show her sympathy, not even through an interview.

The Republic of Niger is one of the poorest countries on the planet. It stopped being a French Colony when Christine Lagarde was 4 years old. Since then Niger has not managed to escape poverty. On the contrary, during the past decades poverty has imcreased and the country finds itself before a new food crisis today due to a long drought.

But Niger is constantly being stricken by famine due to the constant presence and guidance of the World Bank and the IMF...

Niger is yet another victim of one of the infamous programs of change that the IMF has imposed since 1982. Just like Greece, the IMF lent money to Niger to save its creditors and no one ever questioned the validity of the debt.

Loans paid off the debt, just like in Europe today. The simple people of Niger had to pay the price of borrowing continuously through austerity and economic reform.

Under the IMF's pressure, in the mid-2000 Niger adopted a series of "reforms" in their economy that had the following results: no control over fuel prices and extra tax on fuel caused petrol, and thus food, to have much higher prices. Of course, like many countries Niger has food, but people are too poor to buy it.

In 2005 when the big famine broke out, it was not because of lack of food but due to poverty. An indebted Niger was then - amidst the famine - forced to raise VAT on food to 19%, demolish all grain silos and stop free food handouts.

So you understand that it is simply ridiculous that Mrs Lagarde has crocodile tears for Niger and its children, who occupy her thoughts, as she declared in her infamous Guardian interview on Greece. This poor country that suffers from famine has one common problem with Greece: it owes money. Thus the never ending cycle of "help programs", memoranda and blackmails that worsen its situation.

In a country whose largest part is desert, they imposed the privitization of the water supply.

The new prices that have been imposed on small farmers have been huge. Therefore, small farming has vanished. The IMF also had another condition: adding a 19% VAT to flour, milk and sugar, something which caused a demostration in the capital with the basic slogan "We are Hungry!".  In 2010, when the country was stricken by the drought, almost 1,5 million citizens were starving.

At the same time, a Greek non profit organisation began a programme of food and free medical care to poor villages of North Niger. "Since 2005 we have had a mission once a year giving out corn and drugs to thousands of Niger citizens" says Eleni Sotiriou, representative of Doctors of the Heart. The organisation was in Niger on the March 15th, 2012, although Greece itself is in economic crisis.

"We collected food for Niger that was bought with money given by poverty stricken Greeks who, although they have problems,don't stop showing their humanity contrary to Mrs Lagarde. With the money she spends on one of her leather handbags, she could feed one village for a year" says Eleni Sotiriou.

If sympathy is what characterizes the IMF efforts in Niger, then Greece would be better off avoiding it. The area of Niger will be in the headlines soon since it is at the top of famine and malnutrition lists. The IMF and the World Bank have increased these phenomena.

Another paradox is that Niger is one of the poorest countries although it is the 3rd biggest producer of uranium, as well as a provider for the French nuclear machine which, when it comes to deposits, seems to still treat Niger as a colony.

The French company AREVA has the monopoly in uranium and the conditions of extracting it have been characterised as inhumane, something that Mrs Lagarde is fully aware of, since as a former Finance Minister and as a former Trade Minister she had received a report that describes in the most caustic way what is going on with uranium in the area. The magnitude of the ecological and human crimes is simply indescribable.

According to reports by enviromental organisations, the few underground currents of water that remain near the areas of extraction are fully contaminated and the soil is full of uranium dust, whilst the workers and citizens of the area are exposed to the danger.

According to international organisations, since 1968 there has been extraction of more than 100,000 tons of uranium on behalf of the French Areva, which profited by 14 billion euros per year, whereas the country itself receives 428 million per year.

Areva itself spends just 6 million per year (0,05% of its annual profits) for healthcare and social aid to the citizens, mostly for the care of AIDS victims and malnourished children.