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Forced displacements and massive school closures have drastically increased the number of children out of school in Niger, threatening the future of a generation, highlights the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Currently 42 per cent of children are out of school, up from 34 per cent five years ago. This reverses the progress made on education in previous decades, in a country where half the population is currently under the age of 15. Jan Egeland, the NRC’s Secretary General is currently visiting Niger. He told Newsday: “70 per cent of the youth told us, ‘We have no future. We don’t believe we’ll get education or livelihoods or that we can really have a family, have a future.’ If we turn that around and get some hope, I think there will also be stability because the groups recruit out of this hopelessness.” (Picture: Shows Nigerien school children reacting to the sight of a camera on the street. Credit: Scott Peterson via Getty Images.)