BAOBAB
For Women's Human Rights is a not for profit,
non-governmental women's human rights
organization, which focuses on women's legal
rights issues under the three (3) systems of law -
customary, statutory and religious laws in
Nigeria. The organization evolved from an ad hoc
group of activists, social scientists, lawyers,
and specialists in Muslim laws and Arabic who were
responsible for executing the Women and Laws
Nigeria project, under the auspices of the
International Solidarity Network of Women Living
Under Muslim Laws from 1993 to 1996. This
three-year multi disciplinary research project on
women's legal rights generated a wealth of data
which, in order to be efficiently utilized, needed
an organizational structure from which outreach
work could be planned and executed in the states
under study. In 1996, BAOBAB as presently
constituted formally came into
being.
BAOBAB operates from a national
office in Lagos and with outreach teams in 14
states across Nigeria. These are: Adamawa, Borno,
Edo, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos,
Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara. The
organization works with women, legal and paralegal
professionals, human rights NGOs and members of
the general public.
BAOBAB's stated
mission is "to promote women's human rights
principally via improving knowledge, exercise and
development of rights under religious laws,
customary laws and statutory laws." We believe our
activities during the past few years illustrate
our commitment to this mission.
BAOBAB's
OBJECTIVES: The objectives of BAOBAB are
to:
-
promote knowledge, development and
exercise of women's rights
-
protect and defend the rights of women
-
raise
awareness of women's human rights, abuse of
these rights and other legal issues as they
affect women, with a view to determining
policies which can best promote all human rights
-
further the construction of truly
universal and relevant human rights
-
support and strengthen women's and other
human rights focused organizations and
individual activists
BAOBAB's STRATEGIES: The
following strategies are employed in order to
achieve the objectives of the
organization:
-
outreach activities (public awareness,
paralegal training, etc)
-
carrying out social and legislative
advocacy
-
publishing, including but not limited to,
books, pamphlets and posters
-
ongoing comparative analysis of women's
human rights activities in different societies
(local, regional and international)
-
interdisciplinary teaching
-
popular education and training
-
conducting research on women's human
rights
-
exchange and development of ideas
-
disseminating information regarding
women's human rights
-
capacity building for other women's
groups and NGOs through training, skills
building etc.
-
networking in Nigeria, within Africa and
worldwide
-
collaborating with like-minded
organizations in mutually agreed campaigns and
programmes.
-
documenting legal issues as they affect
women
-
participating in academic discussions and
serving as a research centre for women's rights
in law
-
furthering the appreciation and
observance of women's rights through activities
such as sponsoring training and education
programmes
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