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‘Listen to girls and women’ in countries on brink of ‘hope and despair’: Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister

‘Listen to girls and women’ in countries on brink of ‘hope and despair’: Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister

Introduction:

The views of women and girls are crucial to the future of countries like Niger, which has been described as being on the cusp of “hope and despair”.

That’s according to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Margot Wallström, who was talking to UN News in Danja, a village in the west of the Sahelian country.

Ms. Wallström took part in a high-level joint United Nations-African Union mission to Niger and Chad, which was led by the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed.

The mission focused on women, peace and security and comes ahead of a Security Council briefing on Tuesday on peace and security in Africa, in particular the Sahel region.

As President of the Security Council, the Swedish Minister will preside over the meeting.

Daniel Dickinson asked her about the importance of seeing conditions in the field for themselves.

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The views of women and girls are crucial to the future of countries like Niger, which has been described as being on the cusp of “hope and despair”.

That’s according to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Margot Wallström, who was talking to UN News in Danja, a village in the west of the Sahelian country.

As President of the Security Council, the Swedish Minister will preside over a meeting on Tuesday on peace and security in Africa, and Daniel Dickinson asked her about the importance of seeing conditions in the field for themselves.

Audio Credit
Daniel Dickinson, UN News
Audio
7'46"
Photo Credit
UNICEF Niger/Islamane Abdou