In Niger, residents must contend with national and regional security threats, political instability, and chronic food insecurity.

Counterpart International implements the Resilient Governance in Niger activity with USAID funding. This project, set to run until 2026, looks to strengthen the social contract between state authorities and civilians in nine communes throughout the country. This is accomplished through improving the government’s ability to provide local development by uniting civil society, private industry, other sectors of government, donors and stakeholders to aid local communities.

The U.S. Department of State funded the Nallewaro project that was undertaken by Counterpart International in 2022. The project supported the establishment of formalized networks that regularly involved key community members, women leaders, and civilian security forces to collectively build trust and facilitate understanding of each other’s respective roles in community security and the fight against violent extremist threats.

Through our Participatory Responsive Governance Program – Principal Activity (PRG-PA), which ran from 2016-2021, Counterpart improved education, health and security in Niger with funding from USAID and the Swiss Cooperation Agency. This was accomplished through increased dialogue and improved cooperation between government and civil society leaders. PRG-PA worked to empower communities through decentralization and deconcentration of authority and resources, and increased communication and public information flows. This project aimed to create greater community resilience, self-sufficiency, accountability, and improved welfare.

From 2011-2013, Counterpart’s Food Aid for Disabled Children reduced malnutrition and kept children in school by providing meals to impoverished children with disabilities. The USAID-funded project provided two meals a day to impoverished children with disabilities in the capital of Niger to ensure they received the nutrition they needed and keep them in school.