12 February 2007 - PANA. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) among women aged between 15 and 49 years, has fallen by 50% from 5% in 1998 to 2.2% in 2006 in Niger, according to latest official statistics.The figures showed ethnic and regional disparities, with 65.9% of women circumcised among the Gourmancé, 12.8% among the Peulhs and 3.4% among Arabs.The practice was most prevalent in Niamey, the nation's capital, as well as in Tillabéry in the west and Diffa east of the country.
 
UNICEF Representative in Niger, Akhil Iyer, said "youths must spearhead the fight against the practice" to achieve better results.The Niger Committee on Traditional Practices, CONIPRAT, an NGO involved in the fight against FGM, was said to have sensitised some 6,210 pupils in 70 schools against the practice, in the worst-hit regions, last year.