Union des Femmes du Niger

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Union des Femmes du Niger
Union des Femmes du Niger
PredecessorAssociation des Femmes
SuccessorAssociation des Femmes du Niger
Formation1959;64 years ago (1959)
FounderAissa Diori
Founded atNiamey
Dissolved1974;49 years ago (1974)
PurposeWomen's rights
Key people
Fatou Djibo
AffiliationsNigerien Progressive Party

The Union des Femmes du Niger (UFN) was a women's organisation in Niger, which was active from 1959 to 1974 and was affiliated to the Nigerien Progressive Party. It advocated, with limited success, for increases in women's rights.

Contents

History

Aissa Diori, patron. AichatouDiori (crop).jpg
Aissa Diori, patron.

The Union des Femmes du Niger (UFN) was established in 1959 and its patron was Aïssa Diori, the wife of the, at that time, future President Hamani Diori. [1] It was preceded by the Association des Femmes, which had been established in 1956 as an alliance of women from Niamey. [2] However many felt that organisation was too elite and the UFN was intended to be more inclusive. [3] It was an affiliation of the Nigerien Progressive Party. [4] By 1962 the president of the UFN was the teacher Fatou Djibo; both vice-presidents were also teachers. [5] Another prominent member was the entrepreneur Jeannette Schmidt Degener. [6]

Niger has a long tradition of women's networks, and the UFN expanded the kind of work undertaken to include political demands. [7] The overarching goal of the organization was equality between women and men. [8] The UFN promoted the education of women, the improvement of sanitary facilities and the creation of women-specific jobs. [9] It was also one of the financial supporters of the Nigerien National Museum. [8] The UFN was unsuccessful in its demands for legislative reforms on marriage law and the bride price. [9] As part of their lobbying, the UFN also called for the Diori government to reform divorce law, "reducing men's ability to unilaterally divorce their wives" and create fairer circumstances for child custody. [10] UFN members also tried to get on the list of candidates for the parliamentary elections of 1970, in fact not a single woman was represented on it. [11] The UFN called on the government to create jobs for women, including calls for a female police force. [12]

The Union des Femmes du Niger ended with the military coup of 15 April 1974, in which all existing political structures were dissolved. Under the rule of the Supreme Military Council, a successor organisation was founded in 1975 - the Association des Femmes du Niger. [4]

Historiography

Political scientist Aili Tripp has argued that despite superficially advocating for increased rights for women in Niger, the UNF also acted to regulate "women's morality". [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niger</span> Landlocked country in West Africa

Niger or the Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest, Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. It covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km2 (490,000 sq mi), making it the largest landlocked country in West Africa. Over 80% of its land area lies in the Sahara. Its predominantly Muslim population of about 25 million lives mostly in clusters in the south and west of the country. The capital Niamey is located in Niger's southwest corner.

This is the history of Niger. See also the history of Africa and the history of West Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamani Diori</span> President of Niger from 1960 to 1974

Hamani Diori was the first President of the Republic of Niger. He was appointed to that office in 1960, when Niger gained independence. Although corruption was a common feature of his administration, he gained international respect for his role as a spokesman for African affairs and as a popular arbitrator in conflicts. His rule ended with a coup in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigerien Progressive Party – African Democratic Rally</span> Political party in Niger

The Nigerien Progressive Party – African Democratic Rally is a political party in Niger. It was the leading political party of the pre-independence era, becoming the sole legal party of the First Republic (1960–1974). It was led by Niger's first President, Hamani Diori. After the end of military rule, the party reappeared as a minor parliamentary party led by Diori's son, Abdoulaye Hamani Diori.

The Union of Workers' Trade Unions of Niger (USTN) is a national trade union center in Niger. Formed in 1960 as the Union Nationale des Travailleurs du Niger (UNTN), the union was renamed in 1978 as the USTN.

Adamou Assane Mayaki was a Nigerien politician and diplomat. Mayaki was the Foreign Minister of Niger from 1963–1965, and a leading member of the ruling PPN-RDA party.

Barcourgné Courmo was a Nigerien politician and diplomat. Courmo was Finance Minister and chair of the ruling party politburo in the 1960s, as well as the Foreign Minister of Niger briefly in 1970 under Hamani Diori.

The Cinema of Niger began in the 1940s with the ethnographical documentary of French director Jean Rouch, before growing to become one of the most active national film cultures in Francophone Africa in the 1960s-70s with the work of filmmakers such as Oumarou Ganda, Moustapha Alassane and Gatta Abdourahamne. The industry has slowed somewhat since the 1980s, though films continue to be made in the country, with notable directors of recent decades including Mahamane Bakabe, Inoussa Ousseini, Mariama Hima, Moustapha Diop and Rahmatou Keïta. Unlike neighbouring Nigeria, with its thriving Hausa and English-language film industries, most Nigerien films are made in French with Francophone countries as their major market, whilst action and light entertainment films from Nigeria or dubbed western films fill most Nigerien theatres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sawaba</span> Political party in Niger

The Union of Popular Forces for Democracy and Progress–Sawaba is a political party in Niger, founded as the Nigerien Democratic Union in 1954. The original party, founded by Nigerien Progressive Party (PPN) co-leader Djibo Bakary when he was expelled from the PPN. In the mid-1950s it created a broad coalition led by urban leftists but forged of conservative rural notables, especially from Hausa areas, which dominated the nascent Nigerien independence movement. In this period it was renamed Mouvement Socialiste Africain–Sawaba, and then simply Sawaba. In pushing for complete independence from France in a 1958 referendum, the party fractured. At independence in 1960 it found itself in opposition and outlawed by Niger's first president, Hamani Diori. From exile, the party attempted an abortive guerrilla campaign in the mid-1960s, and then largely disappeared. Its leadership returned to Niger following the 1974 military coup, but soon found themselves arrested, in exile, or marginalised. Following the return of democracy in 1991, the now elderly Bakary re-founded the party as UDFP–Sawaba. In the 1993 elections it took only a small numbers of votes. Within the year the party had split, with a new faction (UDFR–Sawaba) joining the government coalition. Despite Bakary's death in 1998 and their continued electoral underachievement, both parties holding the Sawaba name continue.

The 1974 Nigerien coup d'état was a largely bloodless military insurrection which overthrew the first postcolonial government of Niger. The government that followed, while plagued by coup attempts of its own, survived until 1991.

Mamadou Maidah was a Nigerien politician and diplomat. Mamadou was the Foreign Minister of Niger from 1963 to 1965, and a leading member of the ruling PPN-RDA party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigerien Action Bloc</span>

The Nigerien Action Bloc was a political party in Niger in 1955 and 1956 led by Issoufou Saidou Djermakoye, a traditional chief and former chairman of the Nigerien Progressive Party (PPN).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigerien Progressive Union</span>

The Nigerien Progressive Union was a political party in Niger led by Georges Condat.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aissa Diori</span>

Aissa Diori also known as Aïchatou Diori was the wife of Hamani Diori and the First Lady of Niger. She amassed a large wealth through corruption, including high-priced real estate. She was killed in the 1974 Nigerien coup d'état.

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Bouli Kakasi is a Nigerien singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fatou Djibo</span> Nigerien feminist

Fatou Djibo was a Nigerien women's rights activist, feminist, educator and trade unionist. She was President of the Union des Femmes du Niger and was also the first woman from Niger to drive a car.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigerien nationality law</span>

Nigerien nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Niger, as amended; the Nigerien Nationality Code, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Niger. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Nationality describes the relationship of an individual to the state under international law, whereas citizenship is the domestic relationship of an individual within the nation. Nigerien nationality is typically obtained under the jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth in Niger or abroad to parents with Nigerien nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalization.

References

  1. ↑ Hausa women in the twentieth century. Catherine M. Coles, Beverly B. Mack. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press. 1991. p. 78. ISBN   978-0-299-13023-7. OCLC   669520311.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ↑ Idrissa, Abdourahmane (2020). Historical Dictionary of Niger. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN   978-1-5381-2015-6.
  3. ↑ Coles, Catherine M.; Mack, Beverly (1991-10-01). Hausa Women in the Twentieth Century. Univ of Wisconsin Press. ISBN   978-0-299-13023-7.
  4. 1 2 HISTORIQUE DU FÉMINISME AU NIGER (PDF). nawey.net. 2012.
  5. ↑ Fluchard, Claude (1995). Le PPN-RDA et la décolonisation du Niger, 1946-1960. Paris: Harmattan. p. 153. ISBN   2-7384-3100-3. OCLC   35391219.
  6. ↑ Burkina Faso : cent ans d'histoire, 1895-1995 : actes du premier colloque international sur l'histoire du Burkina, Ouagadougou, 12-17 décembre 1996. Yenouyaba Georges Madiéga, Oumarou, ... Nao, Université De Ouagadougou. Département d'histoire et d'archéologie. Ouagadougou: Presses universitaire de Ouagadougou. 2003. p. 1071. ISBN   2-84586-431-0. OCLC   417596621.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ↑ Idrissa, Rahmane (2012). Historical dictionary of Niger. Samuel Decalo (4th ed.). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p. 451. ISBN   978-0-8108-6094-0. OCLC   773278542.
  8. 1 2 Martin, François (1991). Le Niger du président Diori : chronologie, 1960-1974. Paris: Harmattan. pp. 27, 49, 75. ISBN   2-7384-0952-0. OCLC   26502947.
  9. 1 2 Sheldon, Kathleen E. (2016). Historical dictionary of women in Sub-Saharan Africa (2nd ed.). Lanham. p. 291. ISBN   978-1-4422-6292-8. OCLC   925498209.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ↑ Kang, Alice J. (2015-06-30). Bargaining for Women's Rights: Activism in an Aspiring Muslim Democracy. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN   978-1-4529-4427-2.
  11. ↑ Martin, François (1991). Le Niger du président Diori : chronologie, 1960-1974. Paris: Harmattan. pp. 279–82. ISBN   2-7384-0952-0. OCLC   26502947.
  12. ↑ Cooper, Barbara M. (1995). "The Politics of Difference and Women's Associations in Niger: Of "Prostitutes," the Public, and Politics". Signs. 20 (4): 851–882. doi:10.1086/495024. ISSN   0097-9740. JSTOR   3174885. S2CID   144367364.
  13. ↑ Tripp, Aili (2001). "Women's Movements and Challenges to Neopatrimonial Rule: Preliminary Observations from Africa". Development and Change. 32 (1): 33–54. doi:10.1111/1467-7660.00195. ISSN   1467-7660.
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