The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), in partnership with the government of Niger Republic, organised an international symposium for traditional rulers in that country to harness Demographic Dividends (DD).
This is contained in a statement issued by Kori Habib, the UNFPA Media Associate in Abuja on Monday.
Habib stated that the conference, which has “Traditional Rulers as Agents of Change” as its theme, would be presided over by President Mohamed Bazoum of Republic of Niger at the Mahatma Gandhi International Conference Centre in Niamey from November 22 to 23.
She noted that the symposium was aimed at promoting experience-sharing and enhancing traditional leaders’ capacity to strengthen the use of culture and traditional practices to harness demographic dividends.
She said that “experts in Islam and development from Chad, Indonesia, Mauritania, Niger and Al Azhar University from Egypt will share their experiences around three thematic areas relating to child marriage, girls’ education and family planning.”
The media associate stressed that the themes were at the heart of the significant challenges faced by the President’s Renaissance Programme Act 3, which intended to accelerate the process of demographic transition.
She quoted the UNFPA Resident Representative in Niger, Ismaila Mbengue, as expressing delight over the capacity of the fund to bring together over 400 delegates for the symposium.
According to her, Mbengue will be looking forward to developing a national action plan to address the challenges.
Habib explained that the symposium was part of the partnership between UNFPA and the Niger Traditional Leaders Association, a strategically important social institution working on population and sustainable development issues.
She recalled that since 2012, UNFPA Niger had intensified collaboration with traditional leaders, enabling them to achieve concrete results in community engagement and social and behavioural change.
She listed girls’ education, maternal health, capacity building for girls and young people, child marriage, female genital mutilation and social cohesion as areas of particular interest for the communities.
She added that “as a result, UNFPA is contributing to delivering successful results.
‘’The UN awarded the Niger Traditional Leaders Association for its role and commitment to social mobilisation and socio-cultural transformation.”
In attendance at the conference are the UNFPA Deputy Executive Director for Programmes on official visit to Niger, who will personally address the opening ceremony, while the fund’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa will also participate.
