Meeting Background

The meeting of the South West CSOs was called to explore strategies and modalities for increasing Nigerian CSOs active participation and engagement in national consultations and the global Post MDGs 2015 discussions. The South West CSOs meeting is the first in the country on the post 2015 development framework. These global deliberations on the MDGs post 2015 are taking place as the world celebrates the progress made in achieving some of the MDGs targets and begins a countdown to the deadline of 2015. With three years to the MDGs target deadline, notable achievements include:

• Cutting the extreme poverty rate to half the 1990 level
• Meeting the target of halving the proportion of people without access to improved sources of water
• Achieving parity in primary education between girls and boys
• A steady decline in global malaria deaths and reversal of the spread of tuberculosis

However, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the world might not meet the other targets and indeed that Nigeria and most other African countries have not met the above targets and they are unlikely to meet the other targets by 2015. In addition critical issues like human rights, good governance, security and violence, especially violence against women, were not included in the MDGs. More importantly, the process that gave rise to the MDGs was not participatory and inclusive and this has necessitated a call for a new post 2015 global development framework which would include the CSO voices and inputs of (End beneficiaries) those directly affected by poverty.

The UN has begun the process of developing this all inclusive post-2015 global agenda through, the UN Development Group and the setting up of a High Level Panel.  Activities in the UN-led process are: National consultations; Global online discussions on social media; and  thematic discussions on 9 key themes of :

• Inequalities (with also a focus on Gender disparities),
• Food security and nutrition,
• Governance,
• Growth and employment,
• Conflict and fragility,
• Health,
• Education,
• Environmental sustainability,
• Population dynamics

So the national consultations (which include this maiden deliberations initiated in Nigeria by South West CSOs) is aimed at creating a strong civil society position on the post 2015 framework that captures the voice of the Nigerian people and which would influence the position of the Nigerian government and as well as feed into the UN-led consultations at the national level.

The first in the series of CSOs consultations was jointly convened by Justice, Development and Peace Commission, (JDPC) Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State and Campaign2015+ International, Ibadan Southwest Nigeria but hosted by the former. The South West geo-political zone has (according to the 2006 national census) has a population of 27,722,432 and accounts for 20% of the Nigerian population. It comprises 6 states of Ekiti, Lagos Ondo, Ogun, Osun and Oyo.

This regional CSOs meeting had in attendance the representatives of:

• Women’s groups and Women’s rights organizations
• Youth groups
• National NGOs
• Community based organizations
• Community Development Association
• Agriculture groups-farmers
• Faith-based organizations
• Health workers
• People living with disability

Agenda

• Introduction
• Welcome Address by Rev. Fr.John Patrick Ngoyi
• Issues, Insights and Objectives by Dr Tola Winjobi
• Discussions:

• Issues on post 2015 global development framework; UN Secretary-General High Level Panel; Country Consultations, Areas of collaboration with the UN Millennium Campaign….. Dr Tola Winjobi
• Strategies for Nigerian stake holders’ voices to count in the post 2015 MDG global discussions….. Fr Patrick Ngoyi, All Participants
• The Road map…All participants

Objectives

• To identify the critical areas of collaboration with the UNMC/UNDP in its country-specific programme towards Nigeria achieving MDGs by 2015.
•  Draw the roadmap for CSOs’ engagement of the Beyond 2015 process
• To strategize for bringing to bear the voices of the Nigerian stakeholders in post 2015 global development framework so that Nigeria could showcase the best practice in the African sub-region
• To brainstorm on how to identify and establish an all-inclusive home grown campaign platform to partner with the UN country team in contributing to issues towards  and Beyond 2015 MDGs
• To identify sub-regional, regional, and international CSOs, development agencies and donors supporting MDGs and post MDGs agenda including Human rights, justice, peace, good governance and the rule of law , with a view to partnering with them

Discussion Pointers

• How do we make the post 2015 consultations more participatory?
• How do we elicit the active and informed participation of people living with poverty?
• How do we amplify the voices of the poor and socially excluded?
• How do we create an inclusive partnership between the state, CSOs and the private sector towards creating a shared vision of the world we want-beyond 2015?
• How do we ensure that “The Nigeria We Want-Beyond 2015” campaign is included in the Nigeria’s country discourse and report?

Key Issues and Discussions

• The global discussions and consultations on the post 2015 global development framework provides a unique opportunity for Nigerian CSOs to strategize, collaborate, advocate and influence National and global discussion
• The South West CSOs partnership and meeting on Beyond 2015 has highlighted the fact that Nigerian CSOs have the capacity to independently initiate a process that is self funded and to set an agenda that is not donor driven
• The primary focus of this CSOs driven process should be to ensure that the voices of  Nigerians directly affected by poverty and those socially excluded drive the new agenda for the global development framework
• CSOs need to use simple but innovative strategies and tools, including ICT to capture and amplify the voices of the poorest of the poor
• The Nigerian CSOs consultations on the beyond 2015 should produce a well documented report that would not only serve as an advocacy tool for influencing the Nigerian government’s post 2015 report but will also serve an alternative or “shadow” report.
• CSOs need to leverage the presence of 2 Nigerians (Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and Amina J Mohammed) in the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel to positively influence the global discussions on the post 2015 framework and engage with the regional and continental movements and international agencies with the same goals.
• In joining the global discussions on the “The World We Want-Beyond 2015”, CSOs must ensure that the Nigerian voice is loud.
• The year “2015” is also a crucial year in the political life and democratic governance of the country and also provides an opportunity to capture the people’s voices on “The Nigeria We Want –Beyond 2015”.  We need to creativity merge these two campaigns to ensure that socially excluded and Nigerians play an important role in determining the “World” and the “Nigeria” we want beyond 2015. As stipulated in the UN Guidelines for Country Dialogues for the determination of the Post-2015 Agenda: “ they (consultations) offer a point of departure for determining context-appropriate inclusive consultation processes, preferably leading to sustained mechanisms for national dialogues and consultation” (p.14)
• In developing a truly Nigerian agenda by the CSOs, it is important to utilize tools like The Toolkit for National Deliberations (developed by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty-GCAP; Beyond2015 and the UN Millennium Campaign) to ensure that the CSOs consultations and report fit into the UN framework and can align with the reports from other countries.
• The meeting adapted and expanded the list of channels for mobilizing stakeholders for a participatory, inclusive and open national and local level dialogues
• There is the need to create a national broad-based campaign that would involve more CSOs both in the SW zones and the other 5 geo-political zones

Key Outcomes and Action Points

• Convene a larger meeting of CSOs in the SW to develop a broader framework and roadmap for the consultations in the region (September 26, 2012)
• Conduct  mapping of CSO networks, national CSOs, and CBOs at both the state and community levels (First three weeks of September 2012)
• Organise state level CSO briefings and meetings to broaden the level of CSO partners in each state ( Within the first three weeks of September)
• Write and establish communication with the relevant UN agencies involved in the post 2015 framework in the country as well as to the 2 Nigerians in the UN high level panel. We shall also seek to influence the HLP members from the sub region including President Sirleaf of Liberia and the member from Benin Republic.
• Identify credible CSOs that can use the SW template to initiate CSO consultations in the other geo-political zones
• Engage the media and the press as partners in increase public awareness of “The World We Want-Beyond 2015” and “The Nigeria We Want-Beyond-2015” campaign
• Date for next SW CSO meeting – Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Organizations Represented

• The Association of Small Scale Agro-business Producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN)
• CASO-WRAG FOR DEVELOPMENT
• CAMPAIGN 2015+ INTERNATIONAL
• COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE
• COMMUNITY LIFE PROJECT-CLP
• EGBEDA VOLUNTARY HEALTH WORKERS ACTION GROUP
• JDPC
• JONAPID-PEOPLE LIVING WITH DISABILITY
• OGUN EAST SENATORIAL YOUTH COALITION
• SIFE-STUDENTS IN FREE ENTERPRISE
• WARDC
• WODECO
• WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND HEALTH PROJECT

Participants’ list

S/N	Name	Organisation	Email	Telephone
1.	Akinbayo Gbenga A.	SIFE- Students in Free Enterprise) Tasued	duppybioy@yahoo.com	07058813398
2.	Oriyomi Olufemi	Ogun East Sen. Youth Coalition	babsbiohead@yahoo.com	08151555643
3.	Chuks Ojidoh	Community Life Project/ Reclaimnaija	clpnig@yahoo.com	08033124593
4.	Afolabi Bukola	WARDC	womenadvocate@yahoo.com	08180056401
5.	Taiwo Mike Ade	JDPC	Taiwoade57@yahoo.com	08052319230
6.	Shonubi Olaniyi	ASSAPIN	Shonubi_olaniyi@yahoo.com	07030187702
7.	Tola Winjobi	CAFSO-WRAG For Dev / Campaign2015+International	Tolawinjobi58@yahoo.com Campaign2015@gmail.com	08030618326 08082008222
8.	Bose Ironsi	Women’s Rights and Health Project	Whr.project@yahoo.com, Ironsi_b@yahoo.com	08037183072
9.	S.A.Olopade	Egbeda Voluntary Health Workers Action Group	evhwag@yahoo.com
10.	S.O.Okewoye	Community Development Alliance	Comdeval2003@yahoo.com stoptboyo@yahoo.com	08057212433, 08136263141
11.	Tijani Aminat.O	SIFE- Tasued	Aminat_tijani2000@yahoo.com	07067492403
12.	Okunaiya Olusola	WODECO	wodeconig@yahoo.com	08033753586
13.	Disu A. Ireti	JDPC, Ijebu ode	iretiadisu@yahoo.com	08033512299
14.	Mekwuye Olabisi	JDPC- Lagos	jdpcarchlag@yahoo.com bisimekwuye @yahoo.com
15.	John Patrick Ngoyi	JDPC Ijebu-ode	Jpnoyi2004@yahoo.co.co.uk	08033492235
16.	Sanyaolu Agnes	People Living With Disability		08052067993