Empowering Women as Agents of Peace in Tahoua and Zinder, Niger

40% increase in women’s incomes, 25% drop in gender-based violence, and nearly 1.5 million people reached with peace messages across Tahoua and Zinder.?

In Niger’s Tahoua and Zinder regions, women are stepping into new roles as peacebuilders in communities long marked by insecurity, governance challenges, and exclusion from decision-making. With support from the Peacebuilding Fund, the project “Accelerating the Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda” is reshaping local dynamics — creating spaces for women’s voices, building leadership, and fostering inclusive solutions to conflict.?

Strengthening women’s leadership?

Backed by $2.5 million in Peacebuilding Fund support over 33 months starting in November 2023, the initiative is jointly led by UN Women and OHCHR, with coordination by women-led NGOs such as Femmes Action Développement (FAD) and the Women’s Peace Network (REFEPA). Its aim: to reposition women as central actors in conflict prevention and local development.?

So far, more than 420 women — youth, adults, elderly women, and women with disabilities, including displaced women, refugees, and returnees — have been trained in leadership, project development, gender mainstreaming, and resource mobilization. Representing 80 local civil society organizations, they are now equipped with skills to shape peace processes and mobilize resources.?

The results are already visible. Two local women-led CSOs — Amintchi and TANADI — secured more than 29 million FCFA (about USD 51,000) for new initiatives funded by additional donors. Others are working directly with Niger’s High Authority for Peace Consolidation (HACP), the national body coordinating peace and cohesion efforts.?

“Thanks to the training we received through the project, we obtained funding of 11 million FCFA (about 20,000 USD) from the HACP for our community actions. Today, we are listened to and respected in our villages,” says Yaou, Secretary General of the Amintchi Group of Mirya.?

From advocacy to action?

Beyond training, the project has set up 10 consultation frameworks — including three at the regional level in Tahoua, Zinder, and Niamey — to strengthen coordination on women, peace, and security. These platforms bring together local authorities, civil society, and security actors, enabling women to exercise more leadership and expanding forums for their advocacy.?

The project also focuses on economic empowerment. More than 300 women are now engaged in agro-food processing, livestock fattening, soap making, and cosmetics production. These activities help women create small businesses, generate income, and support their families. Alongside them, 600 community mediators — many of them women — are trained to resolve disputes and strengthen dialogue.?

The impact is measurable: women associated with the project reported an average 40% increase in purchasing power, a 25% reduction in gender-based violence, and a stronger decision-making role in over 45% of households. More than 120 local conflict prevention mechanisms have been revitalized, with women now accounting for 45% of participants. To date, 82 mechanisms are fully operational, and 387 conflicts have been resolved — ranging from disputes over land, grazing rights, and water access, to farmer-herder clashes, banditry, and gender-based violence.?

Promoting rights and accountability?

The initiative has also strengthened civil society’s role in human rights protection. Fifty women from local CSOs were trained in monitoring techniques, enabling them to document violations, report cases to authorities, and raise awareness in their communities.?

Mrs. Hadjaria Rahmane, a CSO member, reflects: “It is thanks to awareness-raising that we have understood that we must protect ourselves and our children, especially girls, from gender-based violence.”?

Hadjia Zouwé, a resident of Tirmini, adds: “The sensitization of women leaders has allowed us to understand that we must give our girls the same opportunities to go to school as boys instead of forcing them to sell on the street all the time. Today, we pay more attention to who they hang out with and to their safety in general.”?

Building inclusive governance?

At the institutional level, the project established six municipal and two regional consultation frameworks for dialogue on peace, social cohesion, and rights protection. To broaden outreach, 21 community radios broadcast awareness messages in French, Hausa, and Zarma — reaching more than 1.5 million people with information on rights and peace.?

Innovative advocacy tools were also developed, including ten materials popularizing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in local languages. A participatory process is now under way to revise Niger’s National Action Plan (NAP 2) toward a more inclusive third generation that reflects local realities.?

Religious leaders have been engaged as allies in this effort. In Tahoua, Muslim leaders developed Quran-based arguments in support of equality and peace. As Malam Moustapha Ahmed explained: “One of the successes of the project was the initiative of religious leaders, who, with funding from the PBF, developed an argument based on the verses of the Quran articulated around the WPS agenda, widely used by the entire population to promote an inclusive peacebuilding process.”?

Seeds of peace?

This initiative shows how investing in women’s leadership can produce tangible peace dividends. By combining skills training, economic empowerment, human rights advocacy, and inclusive governance frameworks, the project is not only addressing immediate tensions but laying the foundation for long-term stability.?

Key achievements include:?

420+ women trained, representing 80 CSOs.?

300 women economically empowered, alongside 600 trained mediators.?

40% average increase in women’s purchasing power.?

25% reduction in gender-based violence.?

387 conflicts resolved through revitalized local mechanisms.?

1.5 million people reached with radio messages on peace and rights.?

Through resilience and leadership, the women of Tahoua and Zinder are proving that peace is possible — and sustainable — when women are at the center of solutions.?

As the project continues, these women are not only mediating conflicts and building businesses, they are reshaping the narrative of who leads peace in Niger.?

麻豆传媒