The Education Crisis in Niger in Numbers

🌍 Niger is facing multiple crises, including conflict, displacement, malnutrition, disease, and the effects of climate change.

🌍 Over 2.1 million children in Niger need humanitarian aid.

🌍 Niger ranks at the bottom of the Girls' Opportunity Index and is one of the worst countries in the world for girls seeking 12 years of quality education.

🌍 Only 42% of girls in Niger are enrolled in basic education, compared to 58% of boys.

🌍 Factors such as poverty, unsafe schools, and low-quality education contribute to the lack of access to education.

🌍 The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated this crisis, with an estimated 1.2 million children out of school.

🌍 The insurgency and banditry along Niger's southern borders have led to teachers being targeted and killed and schools closing, making it difficult for children, especially girls, to access education.

🌍 Social norms, such as child marriage and early pregnancy, also limit girls' access to education in Niger.

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Official Statement of West African NGOs opposing sanctions on Mali

A statement from the coalition of West African non-governmental organizations calling on ECOWAS, the European Union, and the United States to exempt humanitarian aid from sanctions imposed on Mali’s military government

We the undersigned, representing a collation of human rights and West African humanitarian non-governmental organizations working on protecting civilians in conflict, write in opposition to Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and EU collective sanctions against Mali.

The 15-member bloc has agreed to impose additional sanctions with immediate effect, including the closure of members’ land and air borders with Mali, the suspension of non-essential financial transactions, and the freezing of Malian state assets in ECOWAS central and commercial banks. The European Union has also announced plans to support ECOWAS in implementing collective sanctions on Mali.

The sanctions will damage an already vulnerable economy in Mali, one of the world’s poorest countries. It will have devastating consequences for the people and hit the most vulnerable the hardest. Around 2.5 million children in Mali are estimated to be outside of the education system, and approximately 1,595 schools are closed due to insecurity. Mali is in the middle of the worst food insecurity in 10 years, with over 7.5 million people needing urgent humanitarian aid.

The West African humanitarian non-governmental organizations coalition is asking to keep a humanitarian corridor open to the affected population. This is because so many Malians depend on our programs, and with the deepening of the crisis, the number of people in need is increasing. West African non-governmental organizations have been responding to the people’s urgent needs and will continue to do so.

The Educational Crisis in Africa in numbers

We have an educational crisis in Africa, and not addressing it will have dire consequences on our future economic growth and social development. According to the Brookings Institute, nearly 128 million school-aged children, 17 million will never attend school. “Perhaps even more shocking is the fact that another 37 million African children will learn so little while in they are in school that they will not be much better off than those kids who never attend school.” These numbers come from the new Africa Learning Barometer created by the Center for Universal Education at Brookings.

Most of the findings are worrisome and abysmal, and highlight the despair faced by educators on the continent.

• There are seven countries in which 40 percent or more of children do not meet a minimum standard of learning by grades 4 or 5. In countries such as Ethiopia, Nigeria and Zambia, over half of in-school students are not learning basic skills by the end of primary school.

• According to the barometer, half of sub-Saharan Africa’s total primary school population – 61 million children – will reach adolescence without the basic skills needed to lead successful and productive lives.

• The barometer also points out the massive inequalities between the rich and poor. Looking at the rates of extreme education poverty in the region, the percentage of adults with less than two years of education show the disadvantages that poor, rural students face in accessing education in comparison to their rich and urban counterparts.

• The barometer also points out the massive inequalities between the rich and poor. Looking at the rates of extreme education poverty in the region, the percentage of adults with less than two years of education show the disadvantages that poor, rural students face in accessing education in comparison to their rich and urban counterparts. For instance, in Ethiopia, 68.3 percent of the poorest quintile of the population lives in education poverty, compared to only 13.8 percent of the richest.