Ambassador Hassana Alidou received her PhD in linguistics at the University of Illinois in 1997. She worked for the German Foundation for International Development consulting on the Basic Education Project in Niger, Mali, and Burkina and was senior education and literacy consultant for the Dutch Development Agency in Niger. She has been a lecturer for UNICEF and The World Bank Education Specialists Institute of Development and was senior consultant and academic director of the German Foundation for International Development, as well as the Burkina Faso Ministry of Education focusing on bilingual education, literacy, and reading projects. Her passion is for promoting the early education of African students in their mother tongue rather than in French or English. Since February 2015, she has been Niger’s ambassador to the United States. She will be presenting on the importance of language and identity as it relates to security issues in crisis areas. (See her full bio here.)
Ambassador Hassana Alidou
Niger's Ambassador to the US
Government of Niger