Voice of Peace : Meet young activist Fatima Mohamed Ibrahim from Niger.
- El Hadj Djitteye
- Feb 25, 2017
- 2 min read
Q: Would you introduce yourself?
A: My name is Fatima Mohamed Ibrahim from Niger,
Q: Describe the current situation of Violent Extremism in Nigeria and what can be done to counter violent extremism effectively?
A : Well, I usually work on violent extremism because I come from the region of Agadez, ,which is near many types of people like smugglers, terrorist, and other armed group. We are exposed to these terrorist groups and other types of violence.
Q: What are Young Nigerian Women leaders doing to counter Violent Extremism?
A : As young women leaders in Agadez we work on activities which focus on sensitization of how to better counter violent extremism with school children and students, we also work on capacity building training programs for women of Agadez.
Q: What is your specific role as a young leader? How are you working and with whom? Is it a national or local leadership movement?
A: As a youth leader, my specific role is to defend the right of vulnerable and marginalized women. I work with a network called the AGADEZ AWAKNESS which is composed of members of the civil society. We work together to make our activities in Agadez.
Q: What are the challenges you are facing?
A : Our main activities is the problem of financial guarantee because when we want to organize our activities sometimes we access remote rural nomad villages in Niger is very expensive for us and we don’t have funds to cover the logistics. We generally cancelled our activities in these areas.
Q: What are the successes stories and accomplishments?
A: Well, one of my success stories is that there is a vulnerable neighborhood where we have identified unemployed youth which do nothing they just spending their time in developing violence inside their society. So we have found them a training program on plumbing. today these youths are becoming plumbers. That makes our value and our happiness.
Q: How are you working in partnership and with support of the national and local government, the international community, civil society? What can be better done?
A: We work with the government and international NGO’s like the USAID program in their program based on social cohesion PCSN. Also, Swiss contact will finance generally the training program for youth.
Q : Share a positive case studies. Are you optimistic about the future of women leadership at advocating for women's rights and conflict prevention?
A : We have organized an activity with a group of youth called FADA, the activity was around the tea party in order to take tea with them and then sensitize them at the same time on countering violent extremism and peace building. This activity was a great success and the message was well understand by all the participants.
Q: What's your message to young women leaders, to your government, to the international community, to extremists?
A: I am an activist of women’s rights because I think we must be stronger and motivated like men because it’s not about difference, its more about determination.
Q: Do you have a last message
A: Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to speak and talk about the role of women in our modern time.
Editor John H. Sime
