Group Charges Lawmakers to Domesticate Action Plans on Women
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
A group, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), in collaboration with United Nations Women, has tasked various state Houses of Assembly in Nigeria to implement State Action Plans (SAPs) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS).
The group made the call at a sensitisation workshop held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for lawmakers selected from Benue, Ekiti, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kogi, and Rivers State Houses of Assembly.
The Director-General of NILDS, Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, said the workshop took place as a result of the rising insecurity in the country, which he said affect the woman and girls more.
Sulaiman said the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east region, the farmer-herder crisis, resource-based conflicts in the Niger-Delta region, inter-state incidences of armed robbery, banditry and kidnapping among others, have affected women and children.
Represented by the Director of Democracy and Governance, NILDS, Dr. Adewale Aderemi, Prof Sulaiman stressed that the conflicts has caused serious barriers to the economic and social development of the local communities in which they occur.
Adding that they also resulted in thousands of deaths, and causing large-scale displacement of people, abuses and violation of rights in the affected areas.
Sulaiman stressed that: “It has been demonstrated consistently that women and children, especially girls, are disproportionately at the receiving end of sexual and other forms of gendered-based violence, exposure to trafficking, that make up an overwhelming majority of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
“This has not only allowed for an exacerbation of the already critical and perennial problem of gender inequality and discrimination in Nigeria, but further makes visible the absence of important instructional frameworks to protect women and girls.
“Despite these realties, women have principally been considered simply as victims of conflict and violence, while being poorly represented in formal peace and security decision-making processes, and excluded as important agents of peace.”
Explaining further, the NILDS boss said: “It is in light of this that the UN Security Council passed a resolution in 2000 commonly referred to as UNSCR 1325 on women, peace and security. By this resolution, there is a concerted call for women to participate fully in peace-building and peace-making processes, be involved in post-conflict recovery and peace negotiations, be protected from human rights violations, and have access to justice.
“This requires that countries come up with National Action Plans (NAPs) on women, peace and security that reflect their commitment and accountability towards the security of women and girls during armed conflicts while ensuring their participation in peace processes.”
He said Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, in collaboration with UN Women, launched its first NAP in 2013, and the second in 2017, therefore, “states are required to draw from this national document and contextualise it appropriately in their domains through SAPs on women, peace, and security.
“Sixteen out of the 36 states in Nigeria have domesticated the NAPs, with Local Action Plans (LAPs) across at least 16 local government areas.”
One of the participants and a member representing Nasarawa Central constituency in Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Dr. Hajara Danyaro, said: “The facilitator, Amy Onyekunle, taught us the importance of involving women in part of everything from the national, state, local government, and ward levels,” stressing that women in the past have suffered exclusion in decision making.
Danyaro added that: “The lecture seriously showed the significance of involving women in all aspect of life because there is no peace without women, even as mothers inspire peace, the younger ones pick inspiration from the mother.”
