European Parliamentarians have recently returned from a study tour to Niger held from 05-11 Feb ruary 2008, co-organised by the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (EPF) and Equilibres & Populations (E&P). This week-long study tour focused on reproductive health, including access to essential commodities and supplies, and the impact of these on the country's population growth. This study tour, hosted by UNFPA Country Office and the Nigerian Parliamentary Network on Population and Development, offered a deep insight into how Niger, the poorest country in the world, is developing policies on SRHR and enabled the Parliamentary Delegation to investigate the impact of population and SRHR policies on the country’s development.

The delegation visited various local initiatives dealing with sexual and reproductive health issues, such as the Gamkale Centre called “K-pote Kiosque”, created thanks to the French support, which provides youth friendly services in a communication change behavior perspective. In Niger, the contraception prevalence is very low, only 5%. This youth center provides condoms while promoting interpersonnal communication on HIV/STD and unwanted pregnancy prevention through peer-educators. The Kpote-Kiosque is also positionned as a ressource center referring clients to partners specialised in STD treatment, HIV testing, care and psycho-social support. Its particularity is to involve all community leaders (immams, traditionnal leaders, parents, womens groups and youth themselves).

The delegation also visited the Boukoki Centre, supported mainly by UNFPA and Germany, which is a multifunctional centre welcoming and informing young people about SRHR, providing sexual education and peer educator trainings, including condom promotion activities. This center is also enabling young people to do various sports, teaching young girls about family planning, HIV/Aids prevention, hygiene and nutrition and also providing access to various activities such as sewing, knitting, embroidery, cooking, childcare. The young people created a radio programme aiming at raising awareness about the importance of education, contraception and enabling the promotion of reproductive health care, including a green line where people can call for free and ask for help and/or advice.


In the Company of the President of the National Assembly, the delegation v isited the National Hospital of Niamey, where the delegation learned about health service provision, treatment and care with a specific focus on obstetric fistula, which is dramatically high in Niger - approximately 1500-2000 new cases each year – and mainly due to early marriages/pregnancies. The hospital is providing counseling and treatment services, but the doctors emphasised the challenges of the lack of space, human and financial resources. The delegation also visited DIMOL NGO’s Centre aiming at helping repaired women to reintegrate into their communities.


At the beginning of the week participants were introduced to the successes and challenges related to sexual and reprod uctive health and population growth in Niger through a working session at UNFPA Offices, including representatives from four Nigerian Parliamentary Networks (Population and Development/ Gender/ HIV/Aids/ Youth), technical experts, the Director of the National Statistics Institute and United Nations Agencies. The presentations and discussions continued the following day with a multi-stakeholders meeting hosted by the World Bank, including two senior expert demographers, representatives from the Nigerian Parliamentary Network on Population and Development, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, the French Development Agency, the French Ambassador, and UNFPA. By the end of the week-long visit, the delegation met with the President of the Republic of Niger, the Prime Minister, the President of the National Assembly, Ministries of Health/Population/Youth/Promotion of Women/Sports/Education, Parliamentarians of the above Parliamentary Networks, traditional and religious leaders and UNFPA, who reiterated their commitment to the population issue and provided an overview of their activities within the country. They all agreed that it is urgent to take action and implement the strategies in place with the help of local traditional and religious leaders. During the closing press conference (see press release attached), European Parliamentarians recognised that they were impressed by the strategic planning that is taking place regarding the population growth and the maternal health care sector and also emphasised the financial and human resources challenge that Niger is facing and the need to strengthen Parliamentary budgetary scrutiny given the new trend of directing aid through general budget support in recipient countries. The European Parliamentarians consequently committed to reporting back on these challenges to their own Foreign Ministries and Development Ministers in order to help try and shape future aid policies.


The French-speaking study tour was composed of a high-level delegation, including Hon. Dr Karl Addicks, German Liberal MP (FDP) member of the DSW Parliamentary Advisory Council, Hon. Françoise Castex, French socialist MEP member of the Committee on Development in the European Parliament, Lord Lea of Crondall, Labour, member of the UK House of Lords and of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health, Hon. Michel Terrot, French Conservative MP member of the French Foreign Affairs Committee and Hon. Hilde Vautmans, Flemish Liberal MP, member of EPF Executive Committee and Chair of the Belgian Foreign Affairs Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, also member of the EPF member group, the Belgian Parliamentary Group on the MDGs.