Experts of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Praise Niger for Efforts to Remove Barriers to Women’s Rights, Ask About Measures to Eradicate Child Forced Marriages and Increase Girls’ Participation in Education
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today reviewed the fifth periodic report of Niger, with Committee Experts praising the State for efforts to remove barriers impeding the rights of women, and raising questions about plans to eradicate the practice of wahaya or forced marriages of girls and increase girls’ participation in education.
A Committee Expert commended Niger’s efforts to remove barriers impeding the rights of women. Temporary special measures had been implemented to increase the representation of women in government bodies and in science courses at universities. These had reportedly been suspended in 2023, however. Were measures in force to sustain the various temporary special measures and monitoring bodies for such measures?
Another Committee Expert asked how the State party intended to prevent and eradicate wahaya, the practice of forced marriage of girls as young as age seven? Niger had the highest rate of child marriage in the world. In 2020, the High Court confirmed the illegality of wahaya. The practice needed to be defined as a crime in Niger’s legal framework. What were the State party’s plans to implement strategies to prevent child marriage?
One Committee Expert welcomed the progress the State had made in education. What measures were in place to increase girls’ access to schooling and to improve the quality of education at all levels?
Introducing the report, Alio Daouda, Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Keeper of the Seals, and head of the delegation of Niger, said Niger had adopted a national action plan 2018-2022 to ensure gender equality. Gender issues were promoted in a cross-cutting manner. In 2019, law 2000-008 on quotas was revised to increase the representation of either sex in elective positions from 15 to 25 per cent and in appointed positions from 25 to 30 per cent. Fifty women were elected as deputies to the National Assembly out of a total of 166 positions to be filled in the 2020 legislative elections.
The delegation added that temporary special measures for women’s empowerment were being maintained, as were the bodies monitoring their implementation. Such measures had successfully been implemented to increase the representation of women in decision-making positions in public bodies, including the Cabinet.
Niger also engaged in positive discrimination of girls in the provision of scholarships, allowing more girls to pursue tertiary studies.
Child marriage remained a concern in Niger, Mr. Daouda said. One in four women aged between 25 and 29 was already married before the age of 15. However, the median age at first marriage for women had increased from 15.8 to 16.6 years. This was influenced by policies promoting girls' education and the improved supply of health commodities. The practice of wahaya was specifically criminalised. To combat child marriage, the State had adopted the National Child Protection Policy; the National Strategic Plan to End Child Marriage; a decree on the creation of children's committees; and the revised 2017 National Gender Policy.
Mr. Daouda said that in 2021, the probability for a girl from a poor rural family to complete primary school was 24 per cent. The 2017 decree on the protection and support of young girls in school was a major step forward in addressing this issue. The State had also developed the Accelerated Strategy for Education and Training for Girls and Women for 2020-2030. The delegation added that the State provided scholarships to 2,800 vulnerable girls from rural areas to allow them to stay in boarding schools, where remedial studies were offered. Pilot schools for excellence in science exclusively for girls had been set up.
In concluding remarks, Laouali Labo, Permanent Representative of Niger to the United Nations Office at Geneva, thanked the Committee for posing topical questions that were of great interest to the State party. Incorporating international treaties into the domestic system required a great deal of work. Much work had been done and much remained to be done.
In her closing remarks, Ana Peláez Narváez, Committee Chair, thanked the delegation for the dialogue, which had allowed the Committee to better understand the situation of women and girls in the country. The Committee took note of all of Niger’s efforts for women and girls.
In addition to the Minister of Justice and Human Rights and the Permanent Representative of Niger to the United Nations Office at Geneva, the delegation included the Technical Advisor to the Prime Minister on Education, the President of the National Mechanism for the Preparation of Reports and Follow-up to the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Treaty Bodies and the Universal Periodic Review; the Director for the Promotion of Schooling and Girls' Education; and representatives of the Ministry of Public Health, Population and Social Affairs, Ministry of the Interior, Public Security and Territorial Administration, and the Permanent Mission of Niger to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s eighty-seventh session is being held from 29 January to 16 February. All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Meeting summary releases can be found here. The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.
The Committee will next meet at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 31 January to consider the seventh periodic report of Tajikistan (CEDAW/C/TJK/7).
Report
The Committee has before it the fifth periodic report of Niger (CEDAW/C/NER/5).
Presentation of Report
ALIO DAOUDA, Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Keeper of the Seals and head of the delegation of Niger, said that on 26 July 2023, the Defence and Security Forces of Niger put an end to the political regime that had been in place for more than a decade. This seizure of power, which immediately received massive popular support, was motivated by bad governance marked by injustice, impunity, nepotism and corruption. The Defence and Security Forces were committed to respecting human rights. The Government fully adhered to the principle of the free choice of rulers by the people, but for this to happen, it needed to build a transparent system in which the will of the people was not confiscated, opponents were not disturbed, and human rights defenders could freely express themselves and demonstrate. The establishment of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights was part of this commitment.
Niger, in becoming a party to the Convention, had made reservations to five articles relating to family status, including inheritance, marriage, choice of domicile, birth spacing and choice of surname. To date, none of these reservations had been lifted, but the Government was multiplying initiatives to find a consensus on the issues.
The percentage of adolescent girls who fell pregnant was 40 per cent in 2012, but this rate had dropped to around 25 per cent in 2021. The overall fertility rate had fallen from 7.6 to 6.2 children per woman of childbearing age. Child marriage remained a concern in Niger. One in four women aged between 25 and 29 was already married before the age of 15. However, the median age at first marriage for women had increased from 15.8 to 16.6 years. This was influenced by policies promoting girls' education and improved supply of health commodities.
To effectively combat gender-based violence against women, Niger had developed a national programme for the promotion of women's leadership in 2020. It was also continuing to implement the "Adolescent Girls' Initiative", which aimed to reduce the rate of child marriage and delay early pregnancy. The offences of sexual violence, rape, female genital mutilation and sexual harassment had been revised in the draft of the new Penal Code, which was in the process of being adopted. The practice of wahaya was specifically criminalised. To combat child marriage, the State had adopted the National Child Protection Policy; the National Strategic Plan to End Child Marriage; a decree on the creation of children's committees; and the revised 2017 National Gender Policy.
In 2021, the literacy rate was about 30 per cent, at 22 per cent for women and almost 40 per cent for men. The gross enrolment ratio reached 68.3 per cent at the primary level, 28.8 per cent at the first cycle of secondary school and 8.8 per cent at the second cycle. The probability for a girl from a poor rural family to complete primary school was 24 per cent. The 2017 decree on the protection and support of young girls in school was a major step forward in addressing this issue. The State had also developed the Accelerated Strategy for Education and Training for Girls and Women for 2020-2030.
Before the events of 26 July 2023, Niger had a National Human Rights Commission with “A” status of compliance with the Paris Principles. It was dissolved by order of the Head of State and replaced by a National Human Rights Observatory, which would soon be set up. The State provided support measures to facilitate access to justice for vulnerable people, including women. From October 2019 to July 2020, local legal and judicial aid offices provided legal aid services to 1,337 adult women and 95 minor girls and judicial aid services to 104 adult women and 145 minor girls.
Niger had adopted a national action plan 2018-2022 to ensure gender equality. Gender issues were promoted in a cross-cutting manner. In 2019, law 2000-008 on quotas was revised to increase the representation of either sex in elective positions from 15 to 25 per cent and in appointed positions from 25 to 30 per cent. Fifty women were elected as deputies to the National Assembly out of a total of 166 positions to be filled in the 2020 legislative elections. In addition, women represented 55 per cent of voters registered for the 2020 biometric registration. The Nationality Code had been amended since 2014 to allow women of Niger to transmit their nationality to their husbands and in 2019 to allow dual nationality.
The General Statute of the State Civil Service and the Labour Code established the principle of non-discrimination and the conditions of equality in terms of treatment and access to employment for women. Niger also had policies and programmes for the employment of women that promoted equality of opportunity and treatment. Out of a global working population estimated at eight million in 2018, only 1.1 per cent were covered by social security. Measures were urgently needed to include more people in the social protection system.
The State had decided, in the draft Penal Code, to decriminalise abortion in cases of pregnancy contracted because of rape or incest. To fight against discrimination against women in inheritance practices, the State was adopting egalitarian laws and land policy. Women were granted the right to inherit land in the same way as men. The Government was conducting awareness raising campaigns to promote the ratification of the Maputo Protocol of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. The Government planned to deepen efforts to remove obstacles to the effective enjoyment of rights by all citizens, including women, without discrimination of any kind.
Questions by Committee Experts
BRENDA AKIA, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for Nigerr, welcomed new developments in Niger, including the planned revision of the Penal Code. She expressed hope that the dialogue would help the State party to make progress on implementing the rights of women.
Another Committee Expert said that as the State party embarked on a political transition, the country needed women's leadership to address the persistent challenges that directly impacted their rights, including endemic poverty, violence, human trafficking and terrorism. Niger’s reservations to the Convention were a serious hinderance, and the Committee encouraged the State party to withdraw them. Did Ordinance 2023 incorporate all the provisions of the Constitution, including the State’s duty to protect the rights of women and prevent discrimination? How was the national dialogue being organised and how would women be encouraged to participate? How did the State party intend to continue to reform the justice system in order to strengthen access to justice and to harmonise clashes between written and customary law? What was the State party doing to engage non-governmental organizations working to ensure women’s rights were upheld? Did the State party plan to create a third plan for women, peace and security beyond 2024?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said Niger was committed to rescinding its reservations to the Convention, but the process was not automatic. The State party was working to convince citizens of the value of the Convention’s provisions. Women played a key role in the national dialogue. Niger respected all its human rights commitments. Most international instruments that Niger had ratified had been incorporated into national legislation and programmes.
Niger had implemented a mechanism for cooperating with human rights bodies, which had undertaken studies to ensure that national legislation was in step with international instruments. Niger aimed to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, eradicate women’s poverty, and empower women through numerous policies, including microloans for women in agriculture and support for women to establish companies.
The State party was working to expand access to justice. It had created tribunals and courts and set up a dedicated body to promote access to justice. Plans were in place to increase the training of judges and magistrates.
Questions by Committee Experts
One Committee Expert encouraged Niger to look at the experiences of other countries with similar cultures that had lifted reservations to the Convention. Religious leaders needed to be made aware of the importance of not placing religion ahead of human rights.
Another Committee Expert said Niger was committed to developing policies for women with disabilities. The Ministries of Health and Population Affairs and Women had been combined. What role did the women’s machinery play in combatting violence against women? What was the future of the Centre for Women’s Equality and gender focal points in the context of the merging of ministries and the suspension of the Constitution? Were women being engaged in the revision of the Constitution? The national budget for women’s development was only one per cent of the total budget. Were there plans to increase this?
Niger’s national human rights institute had recently been replaced. What plans were in place to ensure that the new mechanism would be in full compliance with the Paris Principles?
A Committee Expert commended the State party’s efforts to remove barriers impeding the rights of women. Temporary special measures had been implemented to increase the representation of women in government bodies and in science courses at universities. These had reportedly been suspended in 2023, however. Were measures in force to sustain the various temporary special measures and monitoring bodies for such measures? How would the Government promote women’s participation in leadership positions in local governments and defence forces? How many women were benefitting from Government scholarships? Was the Government considering measures to protect and promote women’s rights in the business sector, and to promote the employment of vulnerable women in the rural sector?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said that the activities that the Ministries of Health and Population Affairs and Women carried out were all still in place, despite the merger between these ministries. The national human rights institute had been dissolved and steps were being taken to set up a new, independent observatory that would protect and promote human rights in line with the Paris Principles. All policies, programmes and strategies in place to protect and promote women’s rights remained in place, despite the suspension of the Constitution.
A national policy for women’s rights was implemented by the new Ministry of Health, Population Affairs and Women. This policy included specific support for rural women, including training in entrepreneurship and platforms supporting women seeking to set up businesses. Loans were provided to women to implement agricultural initiatives, including transforming raw agricultural goods to marketable goods. Support was also provided to women with disabilities in rural areas.
Temporary special measures for women’s empowerment were being maintained, as were the bodies monitoring their implementation. Such measures had successfully been implemented to increase the representation of women in decision-making positions in public bodies, including the Cabinet. The General Directorate for Child Protection and Women’s Rights was responsible for monitoring the implementation of policies, programmes and strategies for women.
Niger was a key provider of staff to United Nations peacekeeping missions and women represented 3.5 per cent of Niger’s peacekeeping forces. There were initiatives in place to increase the number of women employed in peacekeeping missions. Niger engaged in positive discrimination of girls in the provision of scholarships, allowing more girls to pursue tertiary studies. Since 2004, there had been women and girls’ focal points in each Ministry, which were still in place. The Government had recently opened a technical and scientific school for women.
A Committee had been established within the Prime Minister’s Cabinet to draft a social inclusion policy. Religious organizations were being included in developing this policy. There was a quota for women’s participation in national dialogues.
Questions by Committee Experts
A Committee Expert welcomed Niger’s commitment to comply with the Convention, and commended the measures implemented since the last dialogue to prevent gender-based violence. What further measures were envisioned in this regard? How did the State party intend to prevent and eradicate wahaya, the practice of forced marriage of girls as young as age seven? In 2020, the High Court confirmed the illegality of wahaya. The practice needed to be defined as a crime in Niger’s legal framework. What were the State party’s plans to implement strategies to prevent female genital mutilation, child marriage, and other harmful cultural practices? What awareness raising campaigns were in place to address these practices? How would the State party increase access to shelters for victims of gender-based violence? A media campaign on protecting women and girls from violence had been launched in 2020. How did the State party intend to continue this campaign and monitor portrayals of women in the media? Would planned national dialogues address violence against women?
Another Committee Expert said it was commendable that Niger was a party to all major international frameworks combatting trafficking in persons and that the State party had established a national agency for combatting trafficking in persons. The penalty for trafficking adults was only five to 10 years. What was the distinction between trafficking and slavery, which carried a higher penalty, in national legislation? How many shelters were currently available for survivors of trafficking? How many victims had benefitted from compensation funds?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said Niger had domesticated the 2005 Kampala Convention on Displaced Persons. Domestic law included criminal sanctions for violations of the rights of internally displaced persons and persons providing them with assistance. A committee had been established to manage the protection of internally displaced persons. As of 30 June 2023, there were 403,000 internally displaced persons in Niger. Of those, 179,000 were women.
The national gender policy addressed gender-based violence. This policy included a strategy for combatting gender-based violence for the period of 2024-2028. The budget for implementing the strategy was over five billion CFA francs.
Three centres for victims of trafficking were envisioned but currently only one was running. The staff of the centres received training on providing psychosocial counselling. Niger was working on specifically criminalising wahaya in its draft revision of the Criminal Code. There were no grounds or excuses given for the practise of wahaya. The Government was also reviewing legislation in the draft Criminal Code on female genital mutilation to make performing the act on girls an aggravating circumstance.
A decree on trafficking in persons was adopted to implement the Optional Protocol to the Palermo Protocol. The decree defined slavery and enslavement as a form of exploitation. There was a need to harmonise laws on trafficking and slavery. Trafficking a person with disabilities was established as an aggravating circumstance. Eight persons were convicted for trafficking offences in Niger in 2021, 10 in 2022 and three in 2023. The Ministry of Health, Population Affairs and Women managed the centre for victims of gender-based violence and trafficking, where victims could receive psychological and legal support.
Questions by Committee Experts
A Committee Expert asked about measures to sanction perpetrators of violence against women in armed conflict and to provide support to such women. How was the State party facilitating internally displaced persons’ access to identity documents? What financial, human and material resources had been allocated to implementing the Security Council resolution on women, peace and security?
What measures were in place to ensure compliance with the law on quotas? Could the delegation provide statistics on women’s participation in elections as voters and candidates? How was the State party promoting women’s participation in political life and diplomacy?
BRENDA AKIA, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for Niger, asked when the revised Penal Code would be implemented.
One Committee Expert said the Committee welcomed Niger’s resolve in tackling statelessness. How would the State party improve the identification and protection of stateless persons? What measures were in place to draft legislation on statelessness? What studies had the State party conducted into the gender aspect of statelessness? What was the State’s policy on deporting stateless persons before their legal status had been determined? Niger had made progress on revising the legal framework on civil registration. How was the State party addressing barriers to accessing the civil registration system?
One Committee Expert welcomed the progress the State had made in education. What measures were in place to increase girls’ access to schooling and to improve the quality of education at all levels? What was being done to foster leadership and critical thinking among girls? Was the State party working to collect disaggregated data on education? What measures were in place to keep schools safe and prevent them from being used for military purposes? How was Niger ensuring that migrant and refugee girls had access to education? What was being done to ensure that girls who fell pregnant could return to school after giving birth? How was the State party encouraging students’ access to the internet and information technology?
Another Committee Expert said the Constitution recognised the right to work for all citizens. What impact had the suspension of the Constitution had on the implementation of the Labour Code? What progress had been made in promoting women’s participation in the labour market? Women in Niger took on a disproportionate amount of non-renumerated work. How was the State party addressing this issue? What measures were in place to create professional opportunities for women and offer professional training specifically for women? How was the State party addressing the gender pay gap and the needs of women working in the informal sector? Was the State party taking additional measures to fight workplace discrimination and sexual harassment?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said there was a national action plan to combat statelessness planned, but the plan had yet to be implemented. Niger had undertaken a census of internally displaced children in certain regions. Mechanisms were in place to ensure that such children could continue their education. With cooperation from Japan, the State was implementing a programme encouraging internally displaced children to be included in the school system.
Niger focused on supporting vulnerable girls. The State provided scholarships to 2,800 vulnerable girls from rural areas to allow them to stay in boarding schools, where remedial studies were offered. Pilot schools for excellence in science exclusively for girls had been set up. Hygiene packs were distributed to girls to allow them to continue their studies after they started menstruating. In insecure areas of the country, centres for displaced persons had been set up that allowed for displaced children to take part in education. The State had a national connectivity programme that aimed to provide online connectivity to 1,000 schools. The State party was working to make children digitally literate. State legislation enshrined children’s right to free primary and secondary education.
The Labour Code in Niger prohibited discrimination in recruitment, renumerations and professional development. Sexual harassment was prohibited in the workplace. When victims of sexual harassment lodged complaints, they were transferred to the relevant authorities. The State party had set a quota of 25 per cent of senior decision-making posts within the civil service being occupied by women. Eighty-two per cent of the population of Niger worked in agriculture. Most women in rural areas engaged in agricultural activities. The Government supported such women to set up businesses. It aimed to achieve food sovereignty.
Questions by Committee Experts
One Committee Expert congratulated Niger for co-authoring the Security Council resolution 2601 on the Safe Schools Initiative. How did the State party apply the resolution domestically and around the world?
Another Committee Expert said that the State party had seen improvements in health by providing free health care for mothers and persons under 25 years. The Committee applauded this, as well as efforts to decriminalise abortions for pregnancies caused by rape and to prevent female genital mutilation. Would the State party roll out campaigns to discourage early pregnancies? Niger had the highest rate of child marriage in the world, one of the highest rates of births per woman, and a high rate of maternal mortality. What impacts had a new programme for educating fathers on the rights of women had in addressing some of these issues?
BRENDA AKIA, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for Niger, said that nearly 85 per cent of Niger’s population depended on agriculture but gender gaps existed in agriculture productivity. Women’s ability to own land was limited, and women farmers lacked technology, technical knowledge and skills. What measures were in place to invest in women farmers and to increase their productivity and economically empower them? What measures had the State party taken to collect reliable, disaggregated statistics on the situation of women belonging to disadvantaged and marginalised groups? How was the State party addressing the impacts of climate change on women and increasing women’s access to electricity and power?
Niger was the main country of asylum in West Africa, hosting an estimated 700,000 forcibly displaced people in search of international protection. Large-scale displacements to and within the country were exacerbated by insecurity in some parts of the country, climate change and related hazards. What steps was the State party taking to ensure effective public service delivery to meet the needs of asylum seekers, refugees and displaced persons?
A Committee Expert said that employers could not engage women to work in environments that would impact their ability to have children. This was a form of discrimination. Had Niger repealed provisions preventing women from working in mines? There were still several professions deemed to be dangerous that women had difficulty accessing. How was the State party addressing this?
One Committee Expert commended Niger for establishing a national strategy and action plan in 2018 on women’s economic empowerment and for financing many women’s entrepreneurial activities. How had the State assessed the impacts of the strategy? Had measures helped to improve women’s social and economic standing? Entrenched social and cultural norms were at the heart of Niger’s gender inequality. How was the State party encouraging non-governmental organizations to communicate about the rights of women? Was the State party working to transform deeply rooted cultural norms holding back the rights of women? Reports indicated that women in the informal economy lacked mechanisms to subscribe to the social protection system. The lack of social protection of women constituted a major obstacle to their social and economic empowerment. How was the State party addressing this?
A Committee Expert said the age required to enter matrimony was 15 for girls and 18 for boys. Women did not have the same rights to remarry as men. Many women chose to enter marriages formed through customary law, which was inspired by discriminatory beliefs. How did the State party guarantee justice for girls who were kidnapped by the armed forces and forced to marry? What actions was the State taking to make traditional leaders aware of the need to reform harmful cultural practices?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said measures preventing women from working in certain professions were protective measures, not discriminatory ones.
Niger was one of the driving forces behind the Safe Schools Initiative. Niger’s army was well-trained and monitored by the gendarmerie, which took careful note of any violations of international law and took response measures.
Niger had a national strategy for the economic empowerment of women. Numerous capacity building efforts had been launched, including leadership training for women and platforms that helped women to participate in the meetings of political parties and community decision-making spheres.
Concluding Remarks
LAOUALI LABO, Permanent Representative of Niger to the United Nations Office at Geneva, thanked the Committee for interacting with the delegation and posing topical questions that were of great interest to Niger. Dialogues with treaty bodies and special procedures were capacity building exercises for the State party. Incorporating international treaties into the domestic system required a great deal of work. Much work had been done and much remained to be done. The State party had taken note of all the questions asked and would provide written responses to all unanswered questions.
ANA PELÁEZ NARVÁEZ, Committee Chair, thanked the delegation for the dialogue, which had allowed the Committee to better understand the situation of women and girls in the country. The Committee took note of all of Niger’s efforts for women and girls. Based on the dialogue, the Committee would submit recommendations for urgent action, which it hoped that the State party would disseminate widely and follow up on within one year.
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