Niger

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended on Friday that Guinea- Bissau and Niger strengthen efforts to combat female genital mutilation (FGM) and all other abuses against children, UNHCHR reported.

RSF has protested the arrests of Abdoulaye Tiémogo, publication director of the private weekly "Le Canard Déchaîné", and Abarad Mouddour Zakara, publication director of the private weekly "La Roue de l'histoire". Zakara was arrested and kept in police custody on 18 May 2002, following Commerce Minister Seïni Oumarou's filing of a complaint for "defamation". Sanoussi Jackou, owner of "La Roue de l'histoire" newspaper and president of the Parti Nigérien pour l'autogestion (PNA), a small opposit...read more

Reporters Sans Frontieres and the association of independent press editors in Niger, ANEPI, have called for the release from detention of three media bosses accused of defamation by government officials. Publisher Abarad Mouddour of La Roue de l'histoire, and the private weekly's owner, Sanoussi Jackou, were arrested on 18 May after being accused of defamation by Niger's minister of trade, Seini Oumarou. Sanoussi also heads an opposition party. The third detainee, Abdoulaye Tiemogo, was arres...read more

In Niger, a new project encourages people to exchange weapons for solar-powered radios, trains young people to repair them and supports the country's expanding community radio network.

Once a tranquil backwater, the little village of Firgi on the dusty border between Niger and its southern neighbour Nigeria is enjoying a boom. The growth in this impoverished region of West Africa has been fueled by sex, and the drawback is a sharp rise in the number of people infected with HIV --the virus that causes AIDS.

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