Capital: Niamey
Area: 1,267,000 km²
Population: 11.7 million (July 2005)
Ethnic groups: Hausa, Djerma, Fula, Tuareg, Beri Beri or Kanouri
Official language(s): French
Religion(s): Muslim, the rest Christian or indigenous beliefs
Currency: 1 CFA franc = 100 centimes
SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country
Due to the difficult social and economic situation in Niger and the consequent breaking up of traditional family structures, many children and youths landed in the capital Niamey already at the end of the seventies. Although the Ministry of Social Affairs established an orphanage in Niamey in October 1978, the capacity of this centre was, however, totally inadequate after the droughts which lasted from 1980 to 1985. As a result, representatives of the Ministry of Social Affairs made contact with SOS Children's Villages in 1982 and visited an existing SOS Children's Village in Senegal in order to obtain a better picture of the realization of Hermann Gmeiner's idea. After a few years, the plans for the building of an SOS Children's Village in Niger were realized. In 1990, the relevant Ministry transferred a property at the outskirts of the capital Niamey to SOS Children's Villages.
So, the SOS Children's Village Niamey together with a kindergarten and primary school came into being from July 1991 to March 1993. The first children could move into their new home with their SOS Children's Village mothers in April 1993. The SOS Kindergarten and the SOS Hermann Gmeiner Primary School became operational in September 1993 and are also open to children from the neighbourhood. Today about 80 percent of the schoolchildren are from the vicinity and our schools provide a special educational opportunity for them.
After the first children had outgrown the SOS Children's Village, the first external youth facilities were rented in 2000. Here the youths are accompanied by a youth educator who guides them on their way to independence. A family strengthening programme for needy families and persons affected by HIV/Aids with focus on awareness and counselling is operating since 2005. These family strengthening programmes are carried out on each SOS Children’s Village location and the aim is to enable children who are at risk of losing the care of their family to grow within a caring family environment. To achieve this, SOS Children’s Villages Niger works directly with families and communities to empower them to effectively protect and care for their children, in cooperation with local authorities and other service providers.
Over the years SOS Children's Villages Niger became aware of the dreadful situation of children in the hinterland of Niger (spreading of HIV/Aids pandemic, extreme poverty, etc.). For this reason the idea was born already in March 2001 to set up a second SOS Children's Village project in Tahoua, approx. 550 km to the north-east from Niamey. Construction of the second SOS Children’s Village including a Kindergarten, Primary School and Social Centre in Tahoua started end of 2005 and went into operation in the course of 2008.
The region around Dosso, which is situated approximately 150 km south east of the capital, is characterised by an important number of economic emigrants going to work in other African countries. These emigrants, however, often return HIV positive and consequently the HIV infection rate is very high. As the number of orphans who have lost their parents due to the pandemic is high and growing fast, SOS Children’s Villages Niger has decided to set up a third SOS Children’s Village in Dosso, which opened its gates in the summer of 2010.
At present there are three SOS Children's Villages in Niger, one SOS Youth Facility, three SOS Kindergartens, three SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools and four SOS Social Centres and two SOS Medical Centres.
Website of SOS Children's Villages Niger
(available in French and English)