Since 2017, Ara Pacis Initiatives for Peace has been advancing initiatives for peace, human security, reconciliation, and social cohesion in Niger. Since 2021, Ara Pacis’s commitment in the country has been carried forward in collaboration with the NOOR Foundation, chaired by the First Lady of Niger and established in the same year to support national building efforts in education, health, environment, human rights, and peace.
In particular, Ara Pacis is supporting the Foundation in implementing health and education programs for the communities of Diffa and Tahoua, regions severely affected by the presence of terrorist groups. Through the Foundation, Ara Pacis has been able to provide immediate humanitarian aid to survivors from the villages of Bakorat and Intazayene in the Tahoua region, who in April 2021 were victims of a brutal terrorist attack by armed Islamist groups. To further support the survivors, primarily women and children forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in nearby villages, Ara Pacis has supported the governor of Tillia – a village hosting a significant number of displaced persons – in creating a water supply system.
Within this context, the President of Ara Pacis, Maria Nicoletta Gaida, is visiting Niger from June 23 to 27, 2022, and will participate, together with the First Lady, in the ceremony scheduled for June 25 for the delivery of ambulances, kits, and medical equipment to the population of Diffa as part of a community support initiative. Specifically, five ambulances will be donated to the Community Health Centers in the villages of Goudoumaria and Nguigmi, along with various medical equipment and pharmaceutical products to eight nearby villages and municipalities.
Furthermore, during her visit to Niamey, President Gaida will formalize the collaboration with the NOOR Foundation through the signing of a dynamic and inclusive partnership that will allow the parties to jointly develop participatory projects with high social impact.
