December 2018-March 2020
Summary
The Women in Governance project was carried out in partnership with the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund (NWTF), and funded by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) via the Department for International Development (DFID). The project was implemented in Rivers State, Niger Delta, Nigeria, with research encompassing Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers states to understand how women engage in politics across all three states and increase their political participation in Rivers State
Aim
Increase political participation amongst women living in the Niger Delta.
Key activities
- Research to better understand the status of women’s engagement in politics across Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers states, to help inform future initiatives that support the representation of women and their priorities in politics by women, civil society, and government, amongst others.
- A campaign focused around the 2019 elections to promote women’s engagement in politics and to call on politicians to make policy commitments to deliver on the priorities of women in Rivers state, including running a mentorship programme for young women and holding a consultation across Rivers state with women on their priorities for 2019 political candidates.
Context
Women have remained largely invisible in the Nigerian political process. Traditional gender roles and deep-seated cultural norms foster a perception that women are not suited for leadership roles and should not assert themselves publicly. This partly accounts for why only 5.7% of elected positions in Nigeria were held by women in 2015 (Nigerian Bureau of Statistics). Although relevant in other parts of Nigeria, additional barriers to women’s engagement in politics are particularly endemic to the Niger Delta, including ‘godfathers’, militancy, cultism, corruption, and criminality. Accordingly, in Akwa-Ibom only nine women were cleared to contest the House of Assembly election, compared to 110 men; in Bayelsa the figures were nine women and 135 men; and in Rivers, 18 women and 149 men. The low representation of women in political positions is matched by a lack of political will to prioritise measures aiming to reduce these challenges, or to represent issues affecting women more than men.
This is despite the Federal Government of Nigeria’s national and international commitments. Nationally, the National Gender Policy in Nigeria stipulates a 35% minimum representation of women in political leadership. Internationally, Nigeria ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1985, and has been a signatory to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (ACHPR) since 2003.
We believe that better representation of women in politics will lead to a more democratic, equal, responsive, and inclusive government and nation.
Published: 11.12.2019
Project results
A public campaign was organised to promote more women in governance, the campaign included:
- Radio shows: a total of 32 radio phone-in shows promoting voter education and women’s participation in the electoral processes were broadcasted on Nigeria Info 92.3fm and Wazobia 95.1FM.
- Social media: SDN’s Twitter and Facebook platforms had a reach of 179,803 and 120,658 during the project implementation.
- Over 4000 people were sensitized on voter education and civic engagement at four major markets (Oil Mill, Mile 3, Borokiri and Garri Market) in Port Harcourt.
- 400 people (249 females, 151 male) sensitized on voter education and increased participation of women in governance in four Local Government Areas (LGAs) (Okrika, Tai, Obio-Akpor and Ogu/Bolo) of the state
- A total of 4,306,771 persons were reached by the project targeted at promoting women’s engagement in politics and challenging existing norms.
As part of the project we carried on a Young Women Ambassadors/ Mentorship Programme. The programme was developed to prepare 100 young women to challenge existing gender norms within their communities and the society at large by vying for leadership positions within spheres of their influence. 60 young women were paired with women (12 mentors) involved in politics and civil society so they could understand systems of governance and be inspired to compete with their male counterparts for the same positions within the Niger Delta. As a result, 60% of the mentees are now actively engaged in aspiring for leadership positions within their spheres of influence.
Surprising results
The situation analysis demonstrated that factors such as patriarchal attitudes, limited capacity, lack of family support and poor policy responses at all tiers of governance had contributed significantly to the marginalization of women in politics in the Niger Delta. Based on these findings and advocacy visits, SDN/NWTF secured 37 commitments from various stakeholders to promote more women in governance within Rivers state. 32 of these commitments were written while the rest were verbal and these were made by political party representatives; local government officials; media; civil society organisations; community leaders and; the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Funder
Partner
