UPR Sexual Rights Database

"National Report:
Pg 14) In progress: Strengthening of the legal framework; increase in the number of women in elected office; bringing laws into line with the provisions of international legal instruments concerning the rights of women and children; Quota Act of 5 November 2014;
- Act of 5 November 2014 on the Nationality Code of the Niger.

Pg 17) In progress: - Discussions continue on the withdrawal of reservations to the CEDAW, despite obstacles posed by sociocultural inertia;
- In 2014, a committee was set up to examine the possibility of withdrawing reservations; 3 meetings held by the committee.
- Three-year communications plan for the period 2015-2017 has been formulated in order to achieve the withdrawal of reservations; The results and impact will be evaluated as the implementation of the plan progresses.

Pg 19) IN progress: In 2013, the forum on ""Women, Families and Social Values Systems in the Niger"" was held, addressing topics such as the effect of crises on families, the role of women in managing conflicts, domestic violence, etc.

Pg 19) -The principle of equality among citizens is enshrined in the Constitution;
- The proportion of women in public posts rose from 30.66 per cent in 2011 to 33.50 per cent in 2013.
- Labour law: the principle of equal access to public and private employment is established in the General Civil Service Regulations and the Labour Code. Any act of discrimination in this respect leads to cancellation of the appointment, without prejudice to any disciplinary, or even criminal, penalties, as the case may be.

Pg 22) Regarding appointed positions: the President of the Constitutional Court and the President of the High Court of Justice are women; as for the Government, 7 out of 31 ministers are women;
- Gender has been integrated in 52 community development plans.

Pg 23) - Formulation of a strategy for enrolling girls in school;
- Awareness-building and communication on girls’ education, as well as the implementation of incentives designed to support girls
access to education and their retention in school.

Para 36) Regarding the rights of specific groups, laudable efforts have been made in respect of women's participation in politics, with the modification of the Quota Act (which raised the percentage of women in elected office from 10 per cent to 15 per cent) and, in economic terms, with the implementation of several socioeconomic projects aimed at increasing women’s monetary income.

Para 42) Examples of progress and best practices include: The elimination of discrimination of discrimination against women in the matter of transmission of a woman’s citizenship to her husband.
- The creation of school cafeterias to increase the number of girls enrolled in primary education;

UN Compilation:
Para 11) ... Niger had dropped from 151st to 187th place in the gender inequality index in 2014.

Para 12) UNHCR noted that, during its first universal periodic review, the Niger accepted recommendations to improve its legislation, policy and practice on gender equality and on prevention and response to gender-based violence. Despite efforts in this field, prevention and response measures needed to be further strengthened.

Para 40) The Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights welcomed the introduction of quotas for women in elected office and in the public service. The country team nevertheless regretted that the act on quotas was only weakly implemented.

Para 41) The ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations noted the adoption of the Decent Work Country Programme, and that the new Labour Code explicitly prohibited certain forms of sexual harassment.

Para 51) The country team noted that a bill on the education of girls until the age of 18 had been submitted for a second reading by the national assembly in the wake of demonstrations of discontent by Islamic associations. The country team was also concerned about a circular that made provision definitively to exclude unmarried mothers if they were enrolled in specific classes. In the case of pregnant girls, the circular and a decision called for unmarried girls to be temporarily excluded and married ones to be definitively excluded.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 1) UNHCR stated that, despite recommendations received during its first universal periodic review, the Niger maintained reservations to CEDAW ...

Para 8) NHRC drew attention to the National Gender Policy that had been adopted and the National Policy on Social Development, which included a sectoral strategy on the advancement of women. It found it regrettable, however, that the country's actions in those areas were not sufficiently visible.

Para 41) CODDHD said that inequality between men and women persisted in Niger in the sphere of political and administrative decision-making. Only 14 per cent of national deputies and 2 per cent of mayors were women and there was no female governor of a region or prefect. CODDHD noted that, according to a study carried out in 2013, despite the revision of the Quota Act, the representation of women on the decision-making bodies of political parties remained low.

Para 48) NHRC took note of positive action to facilitate access to health-care services for women and children, such as the introduction of free care for children under 5 years old, the recruitment of doctors, awareness-raising campaigns and the implementation of new community-based strategies"

National Report:
Para 13) In specific context, the vision provides, among others, a strategic framework for guaranteeing the well-being and productivity of Nigerians including eradication of extreme poverty ... promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women ...

Para 14) Nigeria is committed to ensuring that respect for all persons irrespective of race, class, disability or gender is guaranteed. Gender equality and women empowerment are basic human rights that form part of Nigeria's Vision 20:2020 and the Transformation Agenda of Government. The strategy adopted in the blueprint for promoting gender equality and women empowerment is by systematic gender mainstreaming in all policies and programmes of government, through the incorporation of the principles laid out in the newly revised National Gender Policy, national laws and other regional and international human rights instruments that support gender equality and women empowerment. There are various gender related bills, currently pending in the National Assembly and government is deploying resources to expedite their passage into law.

Para 114) The Government has put in place policies and measures to eradicate illiteracy through the provisions of qualitative education for Nigerians at all levels. The measures include: institutionalization of the Early Childhood Care Development and Education programme; completion of 80 Tsangaya schools in order to integrate formal educational programme into the quranic school system and the launching of the National Campaign on Access to Basic Education to reduce the number of out of school children; establishment of 12 new universities to enhance access to a federal university in each state of the federation; construction of special girls' schools in 13 states of the federation to improve Girls' Education Programme; establishment of Special Education Intervention Fund of which, the sum of N36 billion has been disbursed to the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory in 2012; establishment of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in 2011 for the provisions of infrastructure and related facilities of which, N76.7 billion has been disbursed to tertiary institutions; refurbishing 352 science and technical laboratories in 104 Federal Unity Colleges. Government has awarded a total of 101 Presidential Special Scholarships for Innovation and Development (PRESSID) for training in top 25 universities in the world in 2012.

Para 115) Government purchased and distributed instructional and library materials on core subjects to all primary 6 students in public schools, supported the Nomadic Education Programme by constructing and equipping of Nomadic Education Model Centres in grazing reserves; training of 28,000 public primary Head Teachers and support for Girls education Projects.

Para 117) Government is implementing a programme known as the Girl's Education Project (GEP) designed to enhance girl's enrolment and retention in school using strategies such as the Students' Tutoring, Mentoring and Counselling (STUMEC), School Based Management Committee (SBMC), School Based Teacher Development (SBTD) and the Pedagogy Module and Core Subjects Modules.

Para 118) Through the Girls' Education Project, Government embarked on advocacy, sensitization and mobilization programmes which have led to significant increase in the enrolment of girls into public primary schools and junior secondary schools in the educationally disadvantaged states in the federation.

Para 120) There are laws in some states of the federation for retention of girls in school and prohibiting the withdrawal of girls from school for marriage.

National Report:
Para 24) The executive arm of government has engaged with the Principal Officers of the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly with a view to accelerating the process of passing into law all human rights-based bills.

Para 25) The Government is making efforts to ensure the enactment into law pending human rights related bills before the National Assembly within the tenure of this administration as a demonstration of its commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights in Nigeria.

UN Compilation:
Para 3) In 2012, Nigeria reported in follow-up to the concluding observations of CEDAW, that the Convention was yet to be incorporated into national law, but that there were ongoing consultative efforts to pave the way for such incorporation.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 1) NHRC stated that since its Universal Period Review, Nigeria has acceded to and/or ratified key human rights instruments. However, most of these treaties were yet to be enacted into domestic legislation.

Para 12) HRAN referred to those recommendations in paragraph 103.2 of the Report and stated that a number of human rights bills including the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill ... remained pending before the National Assembly.

Para 15) DD stated that Nigeria was a party to ... CEDAW but that those instruments were yet to be incorporated into national law.