Fatou Djibo (27 April 1927 - 6 April 2016) was a

Nigerien This article is about the demographics, demographic features of the population of Niger, including population density, Ethnic group, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of t ...

women's rights activist, feminist, educator and

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

. She was President of the

Union des Femmes du Niger 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 The ...

and was also the first woman from

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesTéra Téra is a city in the Tillabéri Region, Tera Department of Niger. It is situated 175 km north-west of the capital Niamey, close to the border with Burkina Faso. It is mainly inhabited by Songhai, Fulani, Gourmantche and Buzu C ...

where she was born. In a step that was unusual at the time, he sent his daughter, when she was seven years old, to the newly opened primary school in Téra and as result was one of the first Nigerian girls to go to school. She continued her education at the higher elementary school in the capital

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital di ...

and finally at the teacher training institute

École normal de Rufisque École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in Senegal. She graduated with distinction in 1946. In the same year she married the teacher Djibo Yacouba with whom she had eight children. From 1946 to 1966, Djibo worked as a primary school teacher, initially in

Fada N'Gourma Fada N'gourma, also written Fada-Ngourma or Noungu, is a city and an important market town in eastern Burkina Faso, lying east of Ouagadougou, in the Gourmantché area. It is the capital of the East region and of Gourma province. It is known for ...

and later in Maradi,

Zinder Zinder (locally, ''Damagaram''), formerly also spelled Sinder, is the third largest city in Niger, with a population of 170,574 (2001 census);

Tillabéri Tillabéri (var. Tillabéry) is a town in northwest Niger. It is situated 113 km northwest of the capital Niamey on the River Niger. It is an important market town and administrative center, being the capital of department of Tillabéri and ...

and

. In 1954 she was Niger's first woman driver. Djibo founded the women's organization

(UFN) on 7 March 1959, which she chaired for many years. In 1962 she led a delegation from the union to Cairo. During the First Republic (1960–1974) she was the face of the public for the concerns of women in Niger. She argued that the development of a country cannot be complete without the

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchi ...

of women and that the degradation and humiliation of women must be stopped by appropriate laws. At the same time she saw the primary task of the Nigerien woman as the educator of the citizens of the future. In 1969 Djibo followed her husband to Brussels when he was appointed ambassador. After his death in 1968 she returned to Niger, where she became treasurer of the Lycée Kassaï School in Niamey. In 1971, she was also deputy treasurer of the

Union of Workers' Trade Unions of Niger The Union of Workers' Trade Unions of Niger (USTN) is a national trade union center in Niger. Formed in 1960 as the ''Union Nationale des Travailleurs du Niger (UNTN)'', the union was renamed in 1978 as the USTN. The 1988 establishment of the Na ...

. In 1978 she officially thanked the USSR for its gift of medicines and medical instruments to the Niger Red Cross. In 1979 she attended an international workshop on women and leadership. Djibo retired in 1983 and continued to volunteer for trade unions, the Red Cross and other organizations. She died in Niamey on 6 April 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Djibo, Fatou 2016 deaths 1927 births Nigerien trade unionists Feminists Nigerien women in politics Women trade unionists Nigerian educators