Empowering adolescent girls in Niger to take control of their lives – and futures

TESSAOUA DEPARTMENT, Niger – “Every young girl must have an economic activity. It’s humiliating to ask for money: You have to look out for yourself,” said 17-year-old Maimounatou, who lives in Tessaoua, in Niger’s south-central Maradi region.

A rural and generally calm area, Tessaoua is frequently hit by intense flooding. As many in the community rely on farming and livestock to make a living, climate disasters seriously undermine their ability to support themselves. Typically, it is the men and boys who work in the fields and with the animals, while women are more often engaged in work in small local businesses, selling local products such as peanut oil and baked goods. 

It’s also an overwhelmingly youthful place, with nearly 90 per cent of the village’s residents under 45 years old. Maimounatou is among 160 teenage girls enrolled in a project that distributes ‘empowerment kits’, which are provisions to help them launch a business and contain seed mills, soya beans, cans of oil and even goats, all of which are split up equally among the girls.

The teenagers were trained in how to best use the contents to kickstart their livelihoods. “I already feel empowered,” said Maimounatou after receiving two goats. “Now I don’t have to wait for someone else to support me.”

Choosing their own paths 

This economic empowerment programme is supported by UNFPA, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency. While the connection between reproductive health and economic well-being may not be intuitive, it is compelling. 

More than three quarters of girls in Niger are married while they are still children and the adolescent pregnancy rate is around 14 per cent. Nearly four in ten women and girls have also reported being subjected to some form of gender-based violence. 

“I was 13 years old when my father gave my hand in marriage to a cousin,” said 16-year-old Hadiza, who joined the programme. “I spoke to a safe space mentor, who with the help of the neighbourhood chief negotiated with my parents to postpone the wedding.” 

When girls like Hadiza and Maimounatou are able to earn their own money and contribute to the family economy, there is less incentive to marry them off early. Additionally, participants in the programme – all girls aged 10 to 19 –  receive education and information on reproductive health, financial skills and human rights. Arming young people with the skills and knowledge to make their own decisions about their lives is a powerful way to combat gender inequality. 

The programme was launched just over 10 years ago and has now reached more than 200,000 teens across the country. Many have since become entrepreneurs in sectors spanning the food industry, tailoring, hairdressing, mechanics and carpentry.

“Today I continue my sewing apprenticeship,” added Hadiza. “And in three years I plan to get married to the man I love.”

It takes a village

The livelihoods initiative is led by Mahamane Mansour Kané Maiguizo, a champion of social well-being for his community. “We are going to follow up every two months and our wish is really for these assets to flourish,” said Mr. Maiguizo. 

In 2018 he also set up ‘One family, one measure of millet’, which is also supported by UNFPA. After harvest time, each family donates around 3kg of millet to be stored and later resold during the lean season, when families typically have less food and lower income-earning opportunities. 

The money raised from the sales goes to support medical evacuations, particularly for pregnant women, and to collectively buy medicine and blood bags. Access to these health services is much needed: In 2023, the local health district of Tessaoua reported that just half of all households in the area had access to health care, around one third of childbirths were assisted by a skilled midwife, and only 15 per cent of respondents were using contraception.

Mr. Maiguizo also used the funds to order 1,000 tables and benches for local schools, and organizes awareness-raising sessions across numerous villages to promote family planning, fight against child marriage and combat gender-based violence. If he hears that a teenager in school has been married, Mr. Maiguizo summons the parents to annul the marriage at least until the child graduates.

The Tessaoua project works with the Association of Traditional Chiefs of Niger and local women's organizations on training sessions, helping to mobilize local leaders as allies in advocating for girls’ rights, and leading to legislation on girls’ enrollment at school and reforms against child marriage.