UN: Nigeria Lagging Behind in SDG 16 on Peace, Justice, Strong Institutions

•UN, DO empower over 1,900 women-owned businesses in Nigeria, other W’African countries

Michael Olugbode and Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

The United Nations (UN) has stated that Nigeria continues to lag behind in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16, which focuses on peace, justice and strong institutions.

According to UN Peace and Development Advisor, Kimairis Toogood, the country was struggling to meet the benchmarks outlined in the 2030 Agenda.

Toogood made this known in Abuja, during the Dissemination of Baseline Study Report organised by Search for Common Ground (SFCG), with the theme, “A Community-centered Approach to Transforming Criminality and Violence in the Niger Delta.”

She emphasised the urgent need for targeted efforts to promote effective peace-building interventions, which are crucial in addressing the root causes of conflicts plaguing regions like the Niger Delta.

She said, “Nigeria has several challenging conflict areas, and the Niger Delta has always been one where focus is really needed to understand the complexities of the conflict issues on the ground.

“As we know, we are behind in achieving Agenda 2030, specifically SDG 16 on peace and security. We understand that maybe our efforts on the ground are not targeting the right root causes in the right way.

“With the right peace-building interventions, we hope that this piece of research as a baseline research on these issues can help us reorient maybe some of our own efforts on the ground by specific agencies working on peacebuilding in the Niger Delta.”

The European Union (EU), through its delegation in Nigeria, Programme Manager, Letizia Torretta, echoed the importance of collaborative initiatives aimed at transforming criminality and violence in the Niger Delta.

Torretta, emphasised the EU’s commitment to supporting community-centered approaches and empowering vulnerable groups to foster lasting peace and security.

Country Director of Search for Common Ground, Fatima Madaki, emphasised the significance of inclusive community security approaches in addressing systemic drivers of violence and criminality.

“The Community-Centered Approach to Transforming Criminality and Violence in the Niger Delta Project, currently being implemented through a collaborative effort between Search for Common Ground and consortium partners, namely the Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), Academic Associate Peace Works (AAPW), and Foundation for Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND), marks a significant step towards fostering sustainable peace and security across 66 communities in the three focal states of Rivers, Bayelsa, and Delta.

“The findings of the baseline study offer a poignant narrative of the realities faced by our communities. Moreover, the nexus between poor governance, political marginalisation and environmental degradation has emerged as a potent catalyst fueling social tensions and instability, thereby exacerbating the prevalence of criminal behavior and violence. Central to our findings is the recognition of the pivotal role played by community actors in shaping the peace and security landscape,” Madaki added.

Meanwhile, over 1,900 women have been trained on the framework and best practices of both public and private sector procurement processes across Nigeria, Senegal, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire under the Women Economic Empowerment through Affirmative Procurement in West Africa (WEEAP) programme, a partnership of Do Take Action (DO) and UN Women.

The programme aims to foster economic inclusion and empower women-owned businesses across the region. It was launched in 2023, to tackle the persistent challenge of limited access to public and private sector procurement opportunities for women-led businesses. 

A statement yesterday, noted that prior to the programme, only one per cent of procurement contracts in the region were awarded to women-owned businesses, despite their significant contribution to the economy.

The statement added that to ensure equal access to opportunities and economic inclusion in line with her thematic issue on inclusion, empowerment, equality and justice  for underrepresented groups like women in business, the DO Take Action partnered with UN Women to launch this flagship Women Economic Empowerment through Affirmative Procurement in West and Central Africa.

It also aims at strengthening equal opportunities to access procurement and strengthen the capacity of women-led SMEs in Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, and Cote d’Ivoire to competently participate in the procurement industry, and within one year of its launch, the programme has recorded laudable feats.

CEO of Do Take Action, Precious Ebere, said: “Our regional flagship project on the Women Economic Empowerment Through Affirmative Procurement Reforms in West Africa has been an enabler for economic inclusion and empowerment for women-owned businesses across Nigeria, Senegal, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire.”

She added that:  “As of last year we recorded over 1900 women trained on the framework and best practices of both public and private sector procurement processes across Nigeria, Senegal, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire. 338 women applied for procurement attesting to a gradual change in behaviour among women entrepreneurs in the region where we work, while nine WSMEs won procurement bids in the private sector in the course of the program, some for the first time in their business.

“Some of them have gone on to apply for and win public procurement bids, even this year. This progress goes a long way to improving the economy, reducing gender based violence in families and promoting affirmative procurement.”

While narrating some successes of the programme, CEO of Oyinespecial Enterprise Limited (Nigeria), Rashidat Umar said: “I had challenges trying to supply food items to establishments because they kept asking for certain documents. But, joining the WEEAP programme, I was exposed to compliance and the process for getting my documents. Applying what I was taught in the programme, I created my business profile and approached various offices to submit proposals. Interestingly, I received callbacks from most of them, securing contracts to supply between 10 to 20 bags of rice.”

CEO of Peril Guard Insurance Brokers Limited, Olufemi Ogun said: “The training offered by this program has been instrumental in helping me understand what makes for a winning bid. It has given me insights into what bid evaluators look for in submitted documents and how they allocate marks for each bidding document.”

Also, CEO of Buklop MultiBusiness Enterprise, Bukola Fakuade said: “I always thought contracts were reserved for men with powerful connections. I never knew that as a woman, I could bid for contracts. The WEEAP programme shattered that misconception and opened my eyes to opportunities in procurement.”