The Association des Sourds du Niger (ASN) was created on April 3, 1978, by people with hearing impairments themselves and under the leadership of the late Hassane Bana BA. Today it is the only association in Niger to be fully committed to the education and training of the deaf community. The association was registered on 31 August 1979 by Order No. 080/MI/DAPA and is non-partisan and non-profit-making.

ASN has set up three primary schools for the educational care of children with hearing impairments with the support of its partners and organised the first training in sign language for teachers and supervisors. ASN undertakes sensitisation and information missions in Niger’s interior to find out more about the living conditions of its members. Since then, ASN has trained teachers in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Congo, and France.

The Let’s speak with our hands! project is about empowering each individual deaf person and helping her/him/them regain their rights. This is both in accessing information as well in supporting acquiring  civil status documents and in their right to education (training of teachers and interpreters in sign language).  The project works in Niamey and the region of Maradi (Maradi Ville, Madarounfa, Dakoro, Djirataoua and Guidan Roumdji).

The other component is about awareness raising on challenges the deaf community faces. A big march is organized simultaneously in Niamey and Maradi to draw the population’s attention to the difficulties faced by deaf people, in particular: access to information, education, health, vocational training and employment etc.

Each person has their potential for autonomy, based on self-confidence, and therefore the ability to understand, be assertive, act, and influence others.