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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; 65 years ago (1959)
FounderAissa Diori
Founded atNiamey
Dissolved1974; 50 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.

History

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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

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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]

References

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  1. ^ Catherine M. Coles; Beverly B. Mack, eds. (1991). Hausa women in the twentieth century. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-299-13023-7. OCLC 669520311.
  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. ^ a b 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. ^ Yenouyaba Georges Madiéga; Oumarou Nao, eds. (2003). Burkina Faso : cent ans d'histoire, 1895-1995. Premier colloque international sur l'histoire du Burkina, Ouagadougou, 12-17 décembre 1996. Ouagadougou: Presses universitaire de Ouagadougou. p. 1071. ISBN 2-84586-431-0. OCLC 417596621.
  7. ^ Idrissa, Abdourahmane; Samuel Decalo (2012). Historical dictionary of Niger (4th ed.). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p. 451. ISBN 978-0-8108-6094-0. OCLC 773278542.
  8. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Sheldon, Kathleen E. (2016). Historical dictionary of women in Sub-Saharan Africa (2nd ed.). Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield. p. 291. ISBN 978-1-4422-6292-8. OCLC 925498209.
  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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