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Child Sponsor Niger
Whilst a government is technically in power in Niger, its reach barely touches the majority of the country where for most there are not even basic services. Niger is in 189th place out of 191 countries and territories in 2021 when ranked in terms of life expectancy, literacy, access to knowledge and the living standards of a country with a life expectancy of 61.58 years (2021). The average age in Niger is just 15 years old, with just under half the population being aged 0 -14 years old. Most of Niger's population live in poverty and their homes are small mud brick huts, overcrowded and without basic services such as electricity, sanitation or water. In fact, 64% of the country's village population lack access to safe water, with what is available at risk of contamination due to almost non existent sanitation systems outside urban areas causing many illnesses including diarrhoea and typhoid fever.
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Those who survive early childhood are at risk of exploitation and human trafficking for a life of begging, enforced working in in gold mines, domestic servitude and also for working in agriculture and stone quarries. In fact an estimated 8,800 to 43,000 people in Niger live under conditions of traditional slavery. This already bleak situation is compounded by regular Tuareg rebellions and droughts across the region that destroy crops and animals; their only source of subsistence living. Whilst the volunteer sector in Niger is not well developed, there are a number of child sponsor programs in the country that focus on building schools, providing food aid and supplies such as seeds to develop sustainable farming methods, improving access to safe water supplies and providing care to orphaned and abandoned children. You can help when you sponsor a child in Niger.
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