Violence against women and girls is one of the world’s most widespread human rights violations. It represents a significant barrier to the fulfilment of the rights of women and girls and occurs across generations, nationalities, and communities, regardless of age or ethnicity.

In Niger, citizens, security forces, and local representatives have agreed on steps to safeguard women and girls in their local community. The effort is the result of Counterpart’s USAID-funded Resilient Governance in Niger project, “Jagoranci,” that aims to support and strengthen local governance across the country, bringing together the government and civil society to improve life for local citizens. The project created inclusive citizen monitoring committees in all participating municipalities and trained the members in local governance, human rights, and advocacy to provide a structured way for citizens to voice their concerns with local leaders.

The community comes together to improve security of women and girls

The project operates in the Tillabéri region where security is a concern and gender-based violence is common. Women and girls in the urban commune of Kollo are too often victims of rape and sexual assault. To provide a safer environment for their children, parents turned to the citizen monitoring committee with a request that they denounce these harmful practices.

Fatouma Mamoudou, president of the citizen monitoring committee in Kollo that is committed to protecting women and girls against gender-based violence in the community.

Concerned about the dangers facing women and girls, the committee established a complaints group and ensured that the mayor was aware of the gender-based violence happening within the municipality. Subsequently, the committee met with the police commissioner and the district chiefs to inform them about the cases of rape observed in the commune.

On December 22, 2023, the committee, local authorities, the defense and security forces, and religious and traditional leaders in Kollo came together to discuss their concerns and curb the violence. The meeting resulted in several measures, including an agreement from the police to provide a night patrol across the commune, and a commitment to carry out thorough investigations and arrest perpetrators. The district chiefs will provide the commune with traditional security agents to support the investigations in the neighborhoods and report pertinent information to the police. The head doctor of the health center will build capacity and educate local health workers on the care of survivors of gender-based violence. Together, this community is working to support women and girls so they feel safe and secure.