WUNRN
For Full Report, Contact:
Nkiru Celine Okoro - nkiruceline@hotmail.com
Nigeria
Centa for Organisational Development
WUNRN - mosie@infionline.net
NIGERIA
1st Edited DRAFT OF THE NIGERIAN NGO COALITION CEDAW SHADOW REPORT
SUBMITTED TO THE 41ST SESSION
OF
THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON THE
ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
Through IWRAW Asia Pacific - THE UNITED
JUNE 30 – JULY 18, 2008
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
The Nigerian government in 1985 signed
and ratified CEDAW in 1987 without reservations. Consequently, it is bound to
fulfill all obligations stated in article 2 towards the promotion of the
principles of CEDAW. The situation of women’s human rights in
The level of discrimination against
women in
Most of the
socio- economic, legal, and political frameworks needed for the protection and
promotion of women’s rights have not been effectively implemented. Between
January and March 2007, the National Assembly rejected the Bill for the
domestication of CEDAW, which stands as the acid test for gender equality in
Four years after its adoption as the
country’s economic blue print the National Economic Empowerment and Development
Strategy (NEEDS) has failed on most of its promises. It has not created seven
million jobs; its promise of accelerated privatization of the commanding
heights of the Nigerian economy including the oil and gas sector has
impoverished more Nigerians especially women. Essential services including
water, health and education under NEEDS have been outsourced to private/public
participation.
At the
political/policy level, only three percent of Nigerian women have achieved one
level of appointive/elective position at the Federal, State and Local Levels.
As a result, the 30% affirmative action that was made to improve women’s
participation in political and public life is seriously hampered in terms of
implementation. Hence participation of women in politics has hardly improved
over the years. The National Gender Policy, which was put together in 2006 to
replace the National Policy on Women, has also remained a paper tiger as it is
not backed by force of law and is yet to be implemented. These factors continue
to widen the equality gap between women and men in
Trafficking
and exploitation of women and children in Nigeria still goes on because the
government only focuses on the legal regulation and established an agency
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP)[2][2] to check the malaise while the remote causes of trafficking and
exploitation such as poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, are yet to be seen as
important indicators, and are also yet to be addressed.
The girl child continues to be
deprived of her rights to quality education because priority is given to male
education. She ends up not been empowered and exposed to sexual harassments and
intimidation that the patriarchal nature of the Nigerian society reinforces.
The educated females face a lot of discrimination in employment as there are
internally constructed gender discrimination in almost all private industries
(the banking, marketing and insurance sectors are at the top of the list). The
educated females either end up not employed, under-employed, or semi-employed.
Consequently, most females opt for employment in the informal sector where
gender discrimination is less, but where their economic attainment is greatly
limited, leaving them less financially empowered than their male counterparts.
The health of Nigerian women is not
spared from the rot that militates against women’s rights. The rate of maternal
mortality is quite alarming at 100 deaths per 100, 000 live births, the second
highest in the world after
The foregoing
are the numerous problems associated with promotion, protection and fulfillment
of women’s human rights in Nigeria; they are some of the reasons Nigerian women
continue to suffer discrimination in all forms and spheres of life. These
problems persist mainly because the Nigerian government has thus far shirked in
its responsibility to domesticate and implement CEDAW
It is hoped
that the information contained in this shadow report will be useful to the
United Nations Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women at the
consideration of
INTRODUCTION.
“Poverty is neither a
pathological nor a hereditary disease. It is an outcome of exploitative
man-made structures and systems established to serve the privileged few. It is
reinforced, by defects in the institutional structures and financial
superstructures of the economy. Women and girls are mostly affected by poverty
hence the modern dictum that “poverty wears a woman’s face”. It is the
responsibility of the state to dismantle these structures” Emeka Osuji
2005.
The 2007 provisional
statistics by the National Population Commission (NPC) have shown that 49.6% of
Literacy
level among Nigerian women is 47%. Less than 15% of them are in leadership
positions in the country. This falls short of the 30% recommended affirmative
action. Of the 400-selected representative at the March 2005 National Political
Reform Conference, only 30 were women. Of 109 senators in the upper legislative
house, only six are women. In the House of Representatives, out of the 360
members there are only 28 women.
At the
state level, only 38 women representatives are in the 36 Houses of Assembly out
of 990 seats in the various State Assemblies. At the local level, there are
only 9 female chairpersons out of 774 Local Government Councils in the country;
5 female ambassadors out of 86; 4 female deputy governors; 6 female ministers,
and 9 female presidential assistants. Lack of access to resources, low level of
literacy and the violent nature of politics in
Yet, Women to date, account for about 70% of the
agricultural labour force. They contribute up to 80% of the total food
production in the country, but they do not own or control the resources (land,
capital etc) in this sector. Only 27% have benefited from micro credit and low
interest loans provided by community banks and National Poverty Eradication
Program (NAPEP)[3][1] . Land ownership structures and access to credit in
Further more, over 80% (percent) of
commercial activities in the country take place within the small-scale sector
of the Nigerian economy. This sector is largely informal and dominated by women
and girls. Low income, greater financial risks, low standards of human
development, and greater social exclusion by the organized private sector
characterizes this group. A negligible proportion has access to credit. Most
lack all the trappings of effective organization and management of successful
businesses and this explains the high attrition rate of small businesses
operated by them. Relevant institutions and policy-making bodies of the
government do not recognize them and their activities are hardly captured in
computing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation. As a result most
government policies, which are hardly known by small business operators, are
counterproductive to their activities whose operations constitute over 80 percent
of the economy. Consequently,
The
non-domestication and implementation of Convention on the Elimination of all
forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has been attributed to the sorry
state of women in
For the
avoidance of doubt, it should be borne in mind that
The Nigerian NGO CEDAW COALITION in
the last six months has made tremendous sacrifices to come up with this shadow
report aimed at reflecting the true position in
Their spirit of volunteerism remains
unrivaled in the history of civil society activism in
We salute the courage, steadfastness
and commitment of all members of the coalition to this responsibility.
This report would for all of us be an
advocacy tool in constructively engaging government in its responsibility for
the protection and promotion of women’s human rights in
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[1][1] Cap C.23
Laws of the Federation of
[2][2] National
Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Offences
[3][1] Federal
Ministry of Women Affairs 2006 MDG Report
_____________________________________________________________________
For Full Report, Contact:
Nkiru Okoro - nkiruceline@hotmail.com
WUNRN - mosie@infionline.net