Niger

March 2017: Attended Buenos Aires Conference on Safe Schools. Provided a speaker from the office of the Prime Minister.

May 2017: PLAN, Save the Children, COOPI and Concern met with Niger’s Ministry of Education representative, who attended the Buenos Aires Conference on Safe Schools in March 2017. They plan to hold a briefing for journalists and media in Niamey in June.

September 2017 UNSC: GCPEA sent a letter to the ambassador in New York asking to raise the issue on attacks and military use, draw attention to the Declaration and the Guidelines and also to mention the AU call to endorse during the Open Debate on children and armed conflict.The government of Niger, with the support of Plan International, Save the Children Niger, Concern, and COOPI, held a two-day meeting in September to raise awareness of the Declaration. The meeting was addressed by the Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, and was attended by 10 media representatives, the three Ministries in charge of primary, secondary, and university education, the Ministry responsible for child protection and Education Workers Union representatives.

January 2018: Save the Children Niger and Norway issued the report of their December sub-regional workshop in West and Central Africa. During the workshop, representatives of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger developed action plans for endorsement/implementation of the Declaration. Focal points from Save the Children and PLAN International will follow up with the governments to progress the action plans.

March 2018: Following an advocacy visit by Save the Children Pan-African and AU Liaison Office to the Ambassador of Niger, Niger also agreed to join the Group of Friends on CAAC.

July 2018: Co-sponsored resolution 2427 (2018). April 2019: Save Niger is engaging the MoD on attendance in Palma, whilst taking the opportunity to brief the Defense Committee on safe schools. The office has reached out to their focal point in the MoD, however they haven’t received a response yet. There has been some engagement historically through the safe schools programme, and that the SSD and Guidelines were shared with the ministry last autumn. Save UK suggested that they coordinate with UNICEF to see if they are in a position to follow up with their contacts to encourage their response and participation.

March 2019: Clustered Interactive Dialogue with the SRSG CAAC Virginia Gamba, HRC Geneva: joined Norway’s joint statement on the Safe Schools Declaration.

July 2020: GCPEA had a productive call with the Mission of Niger and Annelies from the Belgium Mission who is the chair of the Working Group on CAAC. Niger confirmed that the briefing under their Presidency will focus on attacks on education with an emphasis on the Sahel and girls. On the format, a possibility is to include a wider audience who can speak (not only UNSC members), but also other member states and civil society. The briefing will be held around 9 September (at the beginning of the month).

Niger was really interested in hearing where we see major gaps in monitoring and reporting of attacks and the normative framework. Marika presented our plans for a briefing paper on the Sahel which will focus on Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and will amplify the gravity of the issue and the need to strengthen monitoring and reporting ( the opportunity for the Council to push for a MRM mechanism in Niger was mentioned). Annelies thought that a regional MRM system could be an innovative solution to improve data collection and protection in the region. The WG on CAAC will convene a VTC on Burkina Faso with country task forces later this fall.

There is no decision yet on the envisaged outcome. We advocated for a Resolution as an outcome document, including a call for a UNSG report as a decisive next step the Council can take to ensure collective response to deteriorating situation on the ground. I laid out the key proposals from Bede’s concept note and emphasized that a resolution will be a momentous step to go beyond drawing attention to the issue and will be a catalyst for practical effort (e.g. to ensure accountability and development of domestic legislation and more training for military personnel). Thank you Bede and Zama for the substantive language for a resolution which informed our engagement a great deal.

Annelies seemed cautious and underlined that while they are open to new products (documents/guidance) they should have an added value and avoid backsliding. She recommended a “two-tier approach”: we lay the groundwork during this briefing in September, create more alliances and gear up for a Resolution at the next International Day in 2021 and think of activities outside the debate to build momentum. She thinks that diplomats won’t have much of an appetite to push for resolutions that can lead to long disagreements or gridlock due to the current political climate. She was concerned that we might not have enough time to secure an ambitious outcome (drawing from Germanys “failed” resolution 2467 on sexual violence in conflicts). Notwithstanding, she sounded engaged and in favour of a Resolution to be introduced next year. PRST was not ruled out as an option but she flagged that it can take 2 months of preparation drawing from past experience.

While Niger will be responsible for the decision-making under their Presidency, it appears that Belgium’s advice as a chair of the WG will hold significant weight, particularly the recommendation for a gradual approach towards a resolution. The Niger diplomat agreed with Annelies that they would not want to jeopardise the outcomes of the briefing by pushing for a Resolution.

Next steps: they encouraged us to send language for the PRST/Resolution and to submit our proposal. In light of these developments, Yatasha and I would like to discuss the meeting further at the next SSDWG on Tuesday, 28 July, and brainstorm on how we should proceed. In particular, we would appreciate your feedback whether you think that we should push for a Presidential Statement now and work towards a Resolution next year. In our view, there is less scope to push for a Resolution in the short term and a Presidential statement might be a positive start.

August 2020: GCPEA continued to support the Mission of Niger with the preparations for the Security Council briefing on attacks on education under their forthcoming presidency to be held on 10 September 2020. GCPEA provided technical information on attacks on education in the Sahel region and targeting of female students and educators, input for the briefing concept note, suggestions for potential speakers, and input for the PRST.

September 2020: GCPEA met and consistently engaged with the Mission of Niger to the UN in New York ahead of the UNSC Open Debate on Attacks on Education as a Grave Violation of Children’s Rights. GCPEA was invited to speak at the Debate.
September 2020: Save the Children New York Office prepared a letter to the Ambassador of Niger, thanking him for their collaboration around the Open Debate and transmitting some key recommendations for implementation of the SSD in country. The recommendations include:
o To ensure the implementation of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration, and for the President to sign a decree on the establishment of a National Multisectoral Safe Schools Declaration monitoring committee including all relevant Ministries;
o To ensure better protection of schools including through strengthening sanctions against the occupation of schools in Nigerien criminal law and through updating the Niger Protection of Civilians Manual to include stronger protections for schools from military use and a reference to the Guidelines;

Oct 2020: As part of the advocacy activities to disseminate Education Under Attack findings, GCPEA made a girls’ submission ahead of the Universal Periodic Review of Niger. The reviews is scheduled in May 2021.

April 2021: GCPEA met with the Mission of Niger to explain GCPEAs recommendations ahead of the sexual violence debate and provided an updated on recent work on the Safe Schools Declaration, including the Conference and implementation network (and the forthcoming Sahel regional consultations). Niger was requested to undertake peer advocacy. Niger explained their interest in pursuing a UNSC resolution in follow-up to the Presidential Statement. At the same time, they are still exploring and in discussion with Norway. Marika explained the Toolkit, which provides guidance to collect data and will assist in EiE existing data collection. At the core of it is the indicator framework to guide MoE, the Education Cluster on collecting and analyzing data e.g what should a form and template look like. There is a comprehensive package and working draft with a view to publish a final draft next year. Niger and Mali are being considered to pilot the toolkit. The Mission welcomed the Toolkit in line with the need to improve data collection with a coherent framework. GCPEA should be in contact with the MoE directly and copy MFA to disseminate the toolkit. The National Statistics division and the Child Protection divisions and officers on site should be engaged directly as well.

October 2021: cosponsored UNSRC2601.

December 2021: Niger co-hosted an Arria formula meeting on the protection of education during armed conflict with Norway. Niger’s statement emphasized that UNSCR 2601 was unanimously adopted by the UNSC Council and co-sponsored by 99 member states, which demonstrates a significant interest from the international community on the protection of education agenda. Cited GCPEA research from EuA 2020 to illustrate the growing number of attacks on schools and condemned these attacks. Focused on the impacts on the Sahel region, and particularly on young women and girls. Link between education, security and peace. Calling on greater attention to attacks on schools and necessary means required to address this issue, including respecting the civilian character of schools – state’s responsibility. Emphasis on continuity of education in armed conflict

September 2022: Endorsed the Call to Action on Education in crisis situations (refers to EuA22 data) at the Transforming Education Summit

March 2023: ID SRSG CAAC (52 HRC) national statement: – Concerned by attacks against schools and teaching staff, depriving children with their right to education
– Niger has taken steps to protect education, including hot lines for school principals to raise the alarm in real time, relocating schools to safe place, etc.