Women share their analysis of Tillabéri region’s security crisis

In Niamey, a two-day workshop focused on women’s experiences of conflict and violence

Date: 2022-10-04 to 2022-10-05

Time: 09:00 to 16:00

Venue: Niamey, Niger

On 4 and 5 October 2022, ten female leaders from five localities of Niger’s conflict-affected Tillabéri region gathered in the capital city Niamey to discuss the impact of widespread insecurity on their communities, with a special focus on civilian women and girls. A combination of armed banditry, violent extremism, and communal conflicts continues to take a toll on Western Niger, a region that forms part of the Liptako-Gourma borderlands.

Discussions highlighted the precarious situation of displaced women, war widows, and families whose livelihoods have been severely affected by the spread of violent actors. They also considered the prevalence of gender-based violence. Practices such as child marriage and domestic violence are not new in Niger, but they have worsened with the security crisis.

The meeting was part of a year-long project jointly implemented by ISS and the Niger chapter of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP). This is a civil society organisation that supports locally owned peace efforts and is associated with the early warning system of the Economic Community of West African States. The project is entitled Boogu/Gayya – meaning contribution to a collective work, respectively in Zarma and Hausa languages spoken in the region. It aims at building the capacities of local women in gender and conflict analysis, while also providing a platform to showcase their own experiences and expertise as community members and female leaders with unique access to the perspectives and preoccupations of local populations.

Workshop participants came from the towns of Abala, Ayorou, Banibangou, Ouallam and Tillabéri, and reviewed a draft report that encapsulates the findings of a conflict analysis built on their testimonies and on additional field data which they have contributed to collecting. The report is due for publication later this year. It is designed as a rare, structured contribution of civilian women to shaping the discourse on the security crisis and ensuring their voices are heard in this regard.

While Niger continues to roll out its second-generation National Action Plan for the implementation of the UN-backed Women, Peace and Security Agenda, ISS and WANEP’s Boogu/Gayya joint initiative supports the participation pillar of this agenda. The project is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of The Netherlands.