Femmes, Actions et Developpement (FAD) was founded in Niger in 2009 to promote the rights and duties of women in Niger. FAD is a non-political, democratic, non-religious and non-profit organisation, promoting, protecting, assisting, supporting and recognising the rights and duties of women in Niger through sustainable development and proximity actions including:

• Creating a ” shelter” for women in social difficulties or homeless.
• Providing material and financial help to rural women.
• By all other actions decided by the General Assembly.

FAD’s specific objectives are:

• To fight against all forms of discrimination against women;
• To combat violence against women and children in all its forms;
• To strengthen the promotion of women and the protection of the child;
• To fight against inequality and inequity related to gender;
• To contribute to the improvement of living conditions for women and children#s welfare;
• To contribute to the development of youth and the promotion of culture;
• To strengthen girls’ schooling;
• To contribute to the implementation of the UN Conventions on the Rights of Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child ;
• To participate actively in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the United Nations programmes in Niger;
• To contribute to the implementation of the International Commission for Development Action programmes, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Programme to Strengthen Adolescent and Youth sexual health including the prevention of STD / HIV / AIDS (sexual violence, ignorance, harmful traditional practices etc …);
• To mobilise resources for sexual and reproductive health on the one hand and to promote family planning on the other.

The Voice-funded project Keeping Girls at School aims to improve the schooling and retention of girls in school through the adoption of a bill that was initiated in 2012 by the Ministry of Primary Education, called protecting young girls in school. A bill that would give girls the legal power to continue education until the age of 18 by protecting them from all forms of violence: early / forced marriages, school-based harassment etc. The draft bill unfortunately could not be voted on, based on the fact that religious leaders were against it.

FAD is a women’s organisation fighting for the improvement of the living conditions of Nigerien women, both rural and urban. In their understanding, the improvement of the female condition will depend first of all on her education. It is in this sense that FAD has been intervening for several years for the promotion of girl’s education and this project fits perfectly with their strategic plan.

Apart from using a small dedicated team for the project implementation, FAD has also set up committees. A so-called COJEFIL (Young Girls Leaders Committee) which brings together more than 250 girls trained in leadership to promote female leadership. This committee is an umbrella body having offices in Dosso, Maradi and Tahoua. The other committee is called COFEMEP (Committee of women mentors in politics) which gathers 40 women trained in politics and by July 2018 will be composed of more than 100 who will benefit from training and integrate the group.