“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.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

While successful learning ultimately depends on the hard work put in by individual students, having access to a properly equipped school is likely to boost one’s motivation to make the significant effort needed to lay the groundwork for a satisfying professional life.

Thanks to funding from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), students and teachers at the Bilual Secondary School in remote Yuai can now enjoy such a favourable learning environment, and they already do.

“I’m sure that this [renovated school] will inspire and motivate young people to give it their best to pursue their academic aspirations,” said an overjoyed Reeth Padiet, head teacher at the thoroughly refurbished institute of learning.

The new iteration of this Uror County secondary school has six classrooms, a kitchen, an in-built toilet, gates and a fence, all contributing to offer some 50 students a space where they are safe and can focus on their development rather than on the violence and conflicts that sometimes plague their surroundings.

“This initiative demonstrates the commitment of UNMISS to enhancing essential service infrastructures in high-return areas, thus facilitating the reintegration of internally displaced persons and refugee populations. We hope that it will also foster community resilience to prevent further displacements,” explained Geetha Pious, Head of the UNMISS Field Office in Bor.

“Last but far from least, by ensuring easy access to schooling, we can significantly reduce the risk of early, sometimes forced marriages,” she added.

Aged 27, Gatbiel James Khor may not be at risk of prematurely tying the knot, but he takes his learning seriously and is determined to make the most of his improved school.

“I am dedicated to furthering my education and study Agriculture at college. I firmly believe that with knowledge, we can play a pivotal role in building a prosperous and developed South Sudan,” he said.

While impressed by the new structure, Gordon Koang Bar, State Minister of General Education and Instruction, wants to see concrete results.

“Let’s work together to ensure that Bilual Secondary School excels in the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year. That way, it will be clear for all to see that investing in education pays off for all”.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

On 20-25 July 2024, H.E. Mr. Russ Jalichandra, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs visited Egypt, Israel and Qatar. In Egypt met with H.E. Amb. Ismail Khairat, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Consular Affairs and Egyptian Expatriates, and H.E. Amb. Ahmed Shaheen, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Asia-Pacific, Australia and New Zealand Affairs, while in Israel he met with H.E. Mr. Israel Katz, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israe, and in Qatar he met with H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Minister of State of Qatar. The Vice Minister discussed and exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East, especially in Gaza, with the three counterparts, and also sought support in negotiation on the release of the 6 remaining Thai hostages in Gaza.

All three countries had good relations with Thailand, and shared the same view that releasing all hostages are top priority to every country, and pledged their support to Thailand on the matter, despite challenging difficulties. The Vice Minister also discussed important bilateral cooperation with the three countries.

On the same occasion, the Vice Minister also donated 100,000 USD to the Egyptian Red Crescent to support their work on humanitarian assistance missions, visited Thai Students’ Association in Cairo Under The Royal Patronage, and also visited the Thai workers in Israel.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand.

The severe drought that has impacted large swathes of Southern Africa is threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in the six worst-affected countries, UNICEF said today. This includes more than 270,000 children who are expected to suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in 2024.

El Niño-related weather conditions, including extremely low rainfall, have resulted in Lesotho becoming the latest country to declare a state of national food disaster following similar declarations from Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

“The humanitarian needs children are facing due to El Niño are extremely concerning,” said UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Etleva Kadilli. “Increasing food insecurity and malnutrition, challenges in accessing safe water and sanitation, as well as risks to disease outbreaks such as cholera are a serious threat. Thousands of children are on the brink of being irreversibly impacted in their health and growth because of the climate-related crisis and this warning should not go unheard by the international community.”

In Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, 7.4 million children are living in child food poverty – of which over 2 million are surviving on extremely poor diets that include at most two food groups. This is now exacerbated across large parts of Southern Africa due to drought. Communities have lost crops and livestock due to lack of pasture and water.

Vulnerable children are heavily impacted by climate shocks in Southern Africa. These shocks dramatically lower the quantity, diversity, and quality of available food; negatively affect the care of children; and disrupt access to clean and safe water, exposing children to life-threatening childhood diseases including diarrhoea.

“Through innovative collaboration, ideas and financing that include community engagement such as the mother-led care groups in Zimbabwe and the large-scale multi-sectoral nutrition programme in Zambia, we can ensure children and families are supported by sustainable efforts that protect them from some of the severe consequences of climate crises in the region. Strengthening national social protection systems is one of UNICEF’s key tools in supporting families build resilience to future shocks and recover from the effects of emergencies,” added Kadilli. 

“Investment and innovation in building family and societal resilience are vital. Frameworks that stay fit for future purpose, including diverse food systems, clean water, sanitation services, climate-informed education, and climate-responsive health care, must be prioritized, alongside the safeguarding of key services and systems for children to ensure quality and uninterrupted access.”

In addition to investment in resilience, UNICEF calls for urgent acceleration and scale-up of lifesaving programmes across the region to reduce the risks of increased numbers of children becoming malnourished.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).