Programs & Events
U.S. Embassy addresses issue of slavery for Black History Month
In acknowledgement of this year’s Black History Month theme From Slavery to Modern Times, the U.S. Embassy’s American Cultural Center sponsored a program in the northern Nigerien city of Agadez on February 14, 2007 entitled Trafficking in Persons: Modern-day Slavery. Dr. Khalid Ikhiri, president of the Nigerien Human Rights Association, gave a thoughtful and thought-provoking presentation on the topic at the ACC-sponsored American Corner in Agadez.
Agadez is a major transit point for trafficking in Niger and the presentation raised awareness of this topic among the forty plus key local and religious leaders, and journalists present. Dr. Ikhiri identified the practice as a form of modern-day slavery and spoke pointedly of Nigerien society’s obligation to end it.