When women wasted a great opportunity
Exactly 100 years and 7 days ago women celebrated the centennial anniversary of international women’s day; the one day in the year dedicated to women raising awareness about issues they care about. In 1911, the year zero of international women’s day, most women around the world did not have the right to vote (only women in New Zealand, Australia and Finland had a national right to vote); they had limited rights to property and inheritance, they could not provide evidence in certain cases, married women had no legal rights and the entry of women into certain professions was questioned or even prohibited. Within this context, women around the world have indeed come a long way and there is a lot to celebrate. Apart from a hand full of countries in the middle east, women have the right to vote and to be voted for and women have reached not only the pinnacles of government and academia, but of science, literature, art and business. There are legal precedents and policies protecting the right of women to their own bodies, their own minds and their pursuit of happiness and wellbeing. And celebrate we did…at least around the world. In some countries, days before the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day (IWD) the media focused on issues important to women, Air India and Air France ran female only crews on flights; Presidents and their First Ladies delivered good will messages to women and the men and children who love them; celebrities blogged and twitted on women; rockets and fireworks went off and female charities and organizations benefitted from additional funding. Most importantly, though, in the midst of all the celebrating, there was a concerted effort to focus and keep attention on the problems women and female children still encounter in their various communities. At home, in Nigeria we all know what some of the most pressing issues are: health (maternal and infant mortalities amongst the highest in the world); education (data says two-thirds of all illiterates in the world are women); economic slavery (development experts say woman is the face of poverty); poor legal framework (global and regional conventions still not been passed into law) and even more abysmal enforcement of the few legal protections that women have. So as someone who has been aware for a long time of the developmental and social limitations placed on women but only recently realized ‘there must be something I can do to help’ other than cry and complain; I tried to find out what was going on in Nigeria. Enquiries led to the National Women’s Development Center in Abuja where Mrs. Josephine Anenih, Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development planned to deliver a press briefing. Our theme for IWD was the UN global theme: equal access to education, training and science and technology: pathway to decent work for women. When the briefing ended with the unveiling of the newly minted UN Women logo, I was I left feeling let down and absolutely uninspired. Here is what did not happen but so easily could have. One, there were no young women and girls of school age given a role to play. Instead we had a stream of associations such as wives of custom officers given two minutes to address the audience. If the theme was about education and training, then the audience should have been younger; the average age of all the women there was at least 40, not counting a few babies in the audience. Two, there could have been a few minutes dedicated to the issues and the goals for Nigerian women going forward. The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs has been leading the advocacy for the adoption of two documents into Nigerian law: The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979) and the African Unions Protocol on Human and People’s Rights of Women in Africa (2003) but continues to face opposition even though Nigeria has ratified both without reservations. It would have been nice to know what the strategy was for achieving this goal and what practical steps would be taken to ensure our alignment with the theme of the day: that our young women and girls get a quality education in science and technology. And three, in the spirit of elections, it would have been great if the women centered organizations and civil society advocates for women’s rights, equity development, hosted a debate or dialogue session for a few politicians to share their plans for women in Nigeria. Undoubtedly, the campaign schedules for the presidential candidates are very full – but what about men and women vying for the Senate or the National House of representatives? Would they not care to share their plans for the group which constitutes half the population of the country? The truth is while we have come far; we have farther to go. Two weeks ago the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke appointed a seven-member board for the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other related Matters (NAPTIP) and not a single member was female. Arguably if trafficking were not considered a problem predominantly faced by women and children, there would still be a need for a more balanced board to reflect the demographics of Nigeria. With this and other more recent examples of sexism and discrimination in general and party politics, should our celebration of the IWD been all about patting ourselves on the back? If women want to make greater strides in development, politics and social issues we have to do things a little differently. We cannot rely on the government to do everything for us including advocate on our behalf. It would help a great deal if the people in government were committed to the development of women but they are not – and it is up to us to device ways to make them care. If the Ministry of Women Affairs and its agency, the National Centre for Women Development have to toe the government line, then the decades old activists and advocates should lead the way. Women need a plan to put before the next President of Nigeria and the incoming legislators and executives – and this would have been a perfect opportunity to sign off and present it to women as we head to the polls. 104 is still a great number – maybe we can learn from what we did not do and get our acts together for 2015. Published in Thisday on March 15 2011
4 comments:
Received by email on March 15 2011
Hello Ayisha,
My name is Ose, I am an aide to the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, and I'm writing in response to your Thisday article (and your blog entries).
In the main, I agree with the sentiments you expressed in your article; yes, governments (Not just Nigeria's) can and should do more for women and children; and yes, more doesn't just include symbolically kissing a baby or paying lip-service to the gender agenda on days like the International Women's Day (IWD).
However, what you witnessed at the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) was not a celebration of IWD by the Ministry, it was just a press briefing. Find below an excerpt of the Minister's speech:
"It is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to this occasion of the press briefing of the centenary (100 years) celebrations of the International Women’s Day...
...The importance we attach to the centenary anniversary of the celebration in 2011 explains why we have decided to allow States to celebrate first, and thereafter join us in the National celebration which will coincide with the Launch of the Nigerian Women Trust Fund and the National Launch of the African Women’s Decade 2010 – 2020."
I apologize if we left you feeling let down, but please believe that it was a deliberate decision on the Minister's part to defer the celebrations from its traditional date, and not a failure on our part to recognize the sinificance of the Day.
As part of an extended series of activities and events to mark the centenary celebration of IWD, on the 21st of March the Ministry will be distributing 21 ambulances in continuation of a rolling programme to eliminate incidences of infant and maternal mortality during child-birth.
On the 22nd, we plan to celebrate (properly, this time) the IWD in consonance with the Launch of the African Women's Decade (AWD) at the NCWD. So instead of a one-day event, we plan to use the IWD as a staging platform for the AWD, a 10 year period within which the member states of the African Union will focus on the issues you raised like health, education, economic slavery, violence against women, and legal protection; and others you didn't mention like food security, gender budgeting, women in decision making, and mentoring.
the rest of the email said:
Thirdly, in the spirit of elections, the Ministry (in collaboration with UN Women and civil society) is launching the Nigerian Women's Trust Fund on the 24th of March. Female aspirants (regardless of political party affiliation) that have been cleared by INEC to run in the 2011 General Elections will be supported with financial contributions from the Fund. The Fund is more than a source of campaign financing for women though; it plans to build the capacity of interested female Nigerian politicians beyond the 2011 General Elections, and to be an active facilitator of the determination by women to be a significant part of governance and Government.
But we also realize that good intentions can only take us so far. A case in point is the Child Rights Act. The Federal Government has ratified this treaty, but unless 2/3 of the States also sign up to it then it's just a pretty piece of paper. Also consider the fact that even though the Ministry's mandate covers women, children, persons with disabilities and the elderly, our Ministry has historically been one of the least-funded.
One bright point on our horizon is that the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has recognized the primacy of the work we do, and has committed to providing increased funding for us. He has also, in recognition of the fact that sustainable development is only achievable by including women in the development of national policy and strategy, promised to give women 35% of all appointive positions should he win the 2011 Presidential Elections.
The other bright point on our horizon is you, the media. Pressure from the media can move mountains, but unfortunately the gender agenda hardly ever makes it to the front pages of our newspapers. Politicians worshipping at shrines, in various forms of undress, seem to make for more…riveting reading. Along with our advocacy, of course, the media can help press for the passage of the Child Rights Act, CEDAW, and other gender-relevant pieces of legislation, especially in the run-up to the General Elections. These considerations, in part, informed our decision to hold a 1-day workshop on gender reporting for journalists yesterday (14th March).
I hope I have put a seed of doubt in your cynicism about the commitment of the Federal Government, the Minister and the Ministry to the cause of the disadvantaged Nigerian minority. We do care, as much as you clearly do.
If you ever find us wanting, or catch us in an act that makes you proud to be Nigerian, please do not hesitate to drop us a line.
Privately, or in a national daily.
Kind regards,
Ose.
Special Assistant to the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development
Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development
Federal Secretariat Complex
Abuja
Nigeria
Dear Ose,
I read Ayisha's blog on women wasting great opportunities and your response. I understand her seeming frustration with the system and the inability of the government to have a holistic approach towards dealing with the need for more drastic approach towards the need of women. Ose,I'm glad you're part of this government and equally a woman,its so easy to look at what you think you've done(This government) and give yourself a pat on the back without first understanding the share size of the problem. Ose,dont feel bad at my objections but I feel you and your boss(The minister) have an opportunity to not only influence this government to fix just one thing that would leave a mark,I feel most of what we hear and see are rhetorics that actually don't have any positive effect on the average woman.
Lets look at one of the points Ayisha mentioned,the absence of any young lady at your event,how come your team cannot understand that for a problem to be solved,you need to carry along the victims,how do you think the problems you were trying to address would receive attention when you ignore a critical mass of your gender,the youths.
Ayisha is just one of many,you need to see the number of ladies out there seeking to be part of the political process,all they need is a platform,this government and subsequent government would do well to identify the positive tendencies of the ladies and invest in it with a sincere spirit.I feel its very embarrassing that women still die from child birth in Nigeria in 2011.
If the current minister identified reduction of women and child mortality as her core area of investment,it would have had a multiplier effect of the state governments who in turn would fight to see an improvement in that area.
Finally,let me say that the fact that few women are in politics today is not an indication that they are being heard. To understand the integral workings of our political system and how it seek to mussel the woman's voice out of national discuss,all you need to do is look at the way we trivialize the issue of child trafficking, look at how we handle men that marry under age girls,look at the air time the media allocates to discuss of female marginalization and sexual harassment in the private and public sector.
We expect more when a woman is in charge of an agency that deals with women. I want to see change,we need health centers in villages,we need drugs,we need the basics. To solve problems,you need to brake it down to small things that people can deal with.
Thank you
IGONOH Godwin
Standard Assessment Team
Lagos.Nigeria
Godwin.I
Standard Assessment Team
Lagos,Nigeria.
godwinihs@yahoo.com
Post a Comment