When Fertility Never Declined: Family Planning Policy and Women’s Empowerment in Niger

This paper investigates the highest fertility rate in the world, questioning why decades of policy has had little to no effect on the Nigerien fertility rate. It compares two significant pieces of legislation – the 1992 Population Program and the 2012 Action Plan – around fertility rates, and evaluates them on the basis of efficacy. The issue of women’s status, autonomy, and empowerment also presents itself, and it is the aim of this paper to make a case for empowerment as policy and for the implementation of women-focused legislation that prioritizes investments in women as a legitimate approach bringing about economic development. This paper evaluated current understandings of Nigerien women’s societal roles, how policy has attempted to negotiate those understandings, and the future of policy that could work within or around existing structures to change those understandings. By investigating the difference between demand for and availability of contraceptives and family planning services, this paper hopes to offer future avenues of change around fertility policy in Niger. Ultimately, it hopes to bring about solutions that improve the lives of women and expand the ways in which they (and the world around them) see themselves.Humanitie