Kindly find below the requested information with regards to pre-selection to attend the inter-governmental negotiation of the post-2015 in February. In order to make it easier, I spoke to each of the criteria as follows:
General Criteria
The person must speak English and be able to follow the discussions/debates at the UN and have meetings with Member States in that language.
Must have a passport and commit to properly follow up on any related process regarding the visa to the US. The Secretariat will be able to provide an invitation letter but all follow up should be done at country level and by the nominee.
Must be willing to proactively engage with Missions in New York and to set up bilateral meetings and to speak on behalf of Beyond 2015 during those meetings (S/he must coordinate with the Beyond 2015 Advocacy Director on that although the responsibility of setting up meetings will rest on the nominee).
Be willing to present statements on behalf of Beyond 2015 when there is such an opportunity.
Must be authorized by his/her organization to represent and speak on behalf of Beyond 2015 while in New York.
Must commit to participate in a Webinar after the session to present the outcomes of the Mission.
Must commit to submitting a ‘back to office’ report and to participate in a follow up Webinar with the whole campaign where s/he will report on the achievements of his/her participation.
Specific Criteria:
Nominees must be a representative of a Beyond 2015 participating organization.
Must present in two paragraphs why she/he is willing to attend the Session and represent Beyond 2015 in New York.
Must present concrete examples of engagement with the Campaign at global, regional and national levels.
Must highlight their specific expertise pertaining to the negotiation session
MINUTES OF THE BRIEFING MEETING OF CAMPAIGN+ /BEYOND 2015 MEMBERS HELD ON FRIDAY 12TH DECEMBER, 2014 AT MARIA EBUN FOUNDATION BUILDING, ATANDA ESTATE, ADEGBAYI AREA NEW IFE ROAD, IBADAN
Agenda of the Meeting
Opening prayer
Introduction
Welcome address by the Chair, Campaign 2015+
Report of Copenhagen CSO Conference on Post-2015
Reactions to UN Secretary – General’s Synthesis Report
Advocacy work plan on influencing the intergovernmental negotiations
Presentation of DVDs and a Compendium of Deliberations on Post-2015 Development Agenda
Any other business
Adjournment of the meeting
Vote of thanks
Closing prayer
Opening: The meeting commenced by 11:20pm with the opening prayer by Shaik S.O.A Busari from World Islamic Peace Foundation (WIPF) which was followed by self introduction of participants at the meeting.
Attendance: Participants were in all 31from different states including Osun, Rivers, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Oyo States.
Convener’s Remark: The Convener of Campaign 2015+ International, Dr. Tola Winjobi welcomed all the Civil Society Organizations and other representatives at the meeting. Dr. Winjobi described the meeting as an august meeting being the first of its kind at Maria Ebun Foundation Building, Atanda Estate, Adegbayi area, New Ife road, Ibadan. He noted that the essence of the meeting was to carry the CSOs along on the issue of post-2015 development agenda and how far the work had gone.
Chairman’s Remark: The Chairman of Campaign 2015+, Reverend Father John Patrick Ngoyi who was represented by Mr. Isaac Olofi from JDPC, Ijebu-Ode apologized for coming late to the meeting due to traffic jam encountered along Lagos – Ibadan express way. Mr. Olofi stated that Campaign 2015+ was doing remarkably well in the area of post-2015 development agenda adding that it has been in the forefront of campaigning on post-2015 before any other CSO thought about it. He mentioned Action2015 to be launched by January 2015 and he added that all CSOs are expected to be at the forum.
Mr. Olofi stressed the need to sample opinions of the children in order to know their views about corruption and good governance. He cited the example of Malala girl who won the Nobel Prize for her activism on issues affecting children. He stressed that people matter in whatever CSOs will be doing. He stated further that Campaign 2015+ is centered on three (3) important things which are people, economic justice and participation.
Report of Copenhagen CSO Conference on Post-2015: Tola Winjobi briefed the meeting about the conference. He stated that the conference was held between 13th and 14th November, 2014 in UN City, Copenhagen (Denmark) with about 170 CSO representatives from 46 countries attending. The meeting was sponsored by Beyond2015, Globalt Fokus and 92-Gruppen. The meeting discussed the vital importance of inclusion of equality across all levels and themes of post-2015 framework, and through implementation and accountability mechanisms addressing all three dimensions of sustainable development (social, economic and environment). There were plenary discussions focusing on the following: (a) Inequality in the post-2015 framework as a stand alone goal and through mainstreaming. (b) Inequality in an integrated and universal post-2015 framework (c) Youth Lab (d) Strategizing for the future dialogue. Presentation was also made on the work of OWG and the future roadmap. Dr. Winjobi made mention of Open Working Group (OWG), a body set up by the United Nation Secretary – General to gather information across the global in which the body came up with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The following datelines were given on intergovernmental negotiations:
19-21 January 2015 (3 days) – Stock taking
17-20 February 2015 (4 days) – Declaration
23-27 March 2015 (5days) – Sustainable Development Goals and targets
20-24 April 2015 (5days) – Framework for monitoring and review of implementation
18-22 May 2015 (5 days) Means of implementation and revitalized global partners.
22-25 June 2015 (4 days) declaration
20-24 July 2015 and 27-31 July 2015 (10 days) Finalisation of the outcome document
On the relationship between Campaign2015+ and Beyond2015, Dr Winjobi noted that the latter was established in Europe while the former started in Africa (Nigeria). The members of Beyond2015 is spread across the globe while Campaign2015 has its members in African countries including Ghana, Liberia, Siewrra Leone, Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. He stressed that, here in Nigeria, government is not ready to support Non Governmental Organizations compared to the level of support received by NGOs in advance countries which accounted for much of the work of Campaign2015+ not showing. He added that Campaign2015+ is the Lead Agency appointed by Beyond2015 to lead the campaign on post-2015 development agenda in Nigeria. This explained why it was possible for Campaign2015+ to organize deliberations across five geo-political zones of Nigeria. No NGO has ever done this.
In their various reactions towards the level of support received from the government, the CSOs expressed that their stand was to educate the people on how to vote but not to tell them to vote for a particular person. Mr. Olofi noted that due to level of poverty in Nigeria there might not be a credible election in Nigeria.
Reactions to UN Secretary – General’s Synthesis Report: Tola Winjobi asked the CSOs about the report being posted to their mails to confirm if they had commented on the Synthesis report. None of the CSOs had commented on it. He told them that the following day was the deadline to post their comments. He urged them to cultivate the habit of reading in order to have wide knowledge.
Dr Winjobi took the participants through the UN Secretary-General’s Synthesis Report. He cited paragraphs 3, 7, 33, 44, 51, 60, 63, 79 and 98 of the report which discussions later centred on.
Summary of the Reactions to the Report
The UN Secretary-General’s synthesis report has given a ray of hope for common people especially the minority groups, women and youths. Kudos to him for his recognition of over 1.8 billion youths who he said “will be torch bearers of the next SDGs through 2030”, according to paragraphs 3 and 71.
It is note-worthy that implementing SDGs would be country-specific while special attention is given to African countries (Paragraph 33) and LDCs where he specially clamoured for increase in ODA from 0.7% (Paragraph 98).
However, one is constrained from agreeing with Mr Ban Ki-Moon that “we have reduced violence and established global institutions” (paragraph 8). Part of the pitfalls of the MDGs is the fact that the issue of human rights, terrorism, peace and conflict was not enhanced. At the time the Millennium Declaration was being put together, it seemed nobody envisaged that terrorism would be an issue of global dimension; terrorism causes much more violence and deaths these days than any other disaster. Therefore, the UN has not reduced violence but can be said to have built global peace institutions. Commendable is the UN’s efforts in promising to rebuild and reintegrate societies better after crises and conflicts (par. 79).
It is not likely there would be a change or modification in the OWG 17 proposed goals (Paragraphs 44, 60 and 63). There are sentiments in some quarters that the 17 goals are too many and may not be easy to remember! If the goals are not easy to articulate, governments that lack political will might not know how to order their priorities in terms of which ones to implement first in according to country-specifics.
Commendable is the slogan of the Secretary-General “Leave no one behind” Paragraph 51) but galvanising opinions of the critical masses of the people remains an albatross as there is no mechanism to reach the recesses of the grassroots while there is no clear cut support from government or donors to CSOs to do this.
African countries need access to fair justice systems, accountable institutions of democratic governance, measures to combat corruption etc ever than before (paragraph78). Of much concern to African nations is the issue of creating an enabling environment under the rule of law for CSOs to reflect the voices of minorities including LGBT. Reflecting the voices of minorities but LGBT’s is apt and paramount. The issue of gay-marriage, for example, is alien to African cultures. In as much as Africans do not have the moral right to impose their culture of polygamy on any other cultures outside of Africa, then other cultures especially Americans and Europeans do not have the moral right either to impose their culture of, for example, homosexualism on any African country.
We believe the intergovernmental negotiation process would provide the CSOs a critical role to play in influencing their governments to influence the content of the SDGs for the benefit of common people.
Advocacy Work Plan on influencing the intergovernmental negotiations: Tola Winjobi encouraged the CSOs to think of what they could do at the state and regional levels. A series of suggestion was brought on work plan which include: advocacy visit to different states along with lobbying of government functionaries. Others include advocacy visit to media houses, UNMC, Ministry of Finance, OSSAP/MDGs, Social Mobilization (SM), organizing press conference / media work, uses of I.C.T, social media, town hall meetings, production of IEC materials including badges. The voice of grassroots should be heard and there is the need to raise fund for community-level advocacy. It was agreed that the report of this meeting be sent to our partners in particular UNMC and WaterAid that wrote the preface.
Presentation of DVDs and a Compendium of Deliberations on Post – 2015 Development Agenda: Winjobi presented the said book to the CSOs participants while promising that DVDs will be sent to them due to technical problems encountered while producing the DVDs. He noted that the book would aid the work of CSOs while embarking on advocacy visit on post-2015 development agenda. He highlighted the content of the book including the OWG sessions, the report of the zonal deliberations and the report of the UN-led country deliberations that took place in Abuja. Copies of the book were freely distributed among the participants.
Any Other Business: A series of suggestion was also brought on the campaign materials in which the CSOs suggested of t-shirts, tags, jackets and badges but the house observed that t-shirts will cost much since the organization is non-profit making organization, and there is no plan to get financial support from development partners.
Vote of thanks: The meeting was adjourned following a vote of thanks said by Mrs. Deborah Salami from Women’s Rights Action Group (WRAG).
Closing prayer: The meeting ended by 1:45pm while the closing prayer was said by Sylvia Briggs from Women Educators Association of Nigeria, Port Harcourt.
CITIZENS’ CRITICAL ISSUES FOR DISCUSSIONS AND INCLUSION AT THE 2014 NATIONAL DIALOGUE BEING A PAPER PRESENTED BY D. TOLA WINJOBI (PhD), PRINCIPAL COORDINATOR OF CAFSO-WRAG FOR DEVELOPMENT AND CONVENER, CAMPAIGN 2015+ INTERNATIONAL AT SOUTHWEST CSO CONSULTATIVE FORUM ON PRIORITY FOR THE NATIONAL CONFAB AT PLANET ONE HOTEL, MOBOLAJI BANK ANTHONY WAY, MARYLAND, LAGOS MARCH 11, 2014
There is no way we talk about the National Dialogue without talking about the Constitution of Nigeria as most of the issues at the confab would deal with the review or enactment of a new constitution ultimately. Nigerian Constitution has undergone different reviews at different times of her development and the most prominent were those post-independence reviews. For obvious reasons, the Nigerian Constitution suffered a lot of setbacks during the military aberration in our body polity as all of the time the military’s first action whenever they struck was to suspend the constitution and render inactive almost all the democratic structures. This goes to show that the Nigerian political process has undergone a tortuous journey of transition. With the advent of the Fourth Republic, there has been a sigh of relief as Nigerians now have the opportunity to tinker with the Constitution one time or the other. The most recent being the one led by the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution which took place between Wednesday 14th and Friday 16th November 2012 at Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. It was a simultaneous public hearing across the six geo-political zones. Earlier, on the 31st of October 2012, there was a previous one led by the House of Representatives that took place in the various states and local communities of Nigeria.
I did lament at that time that it’s a pity that we had put the cart before the horse because the public hearing ought to have begun at the zonal level to the national rather than the other way round as it was done then in 2012. I posed some conundrum in 2012 when the review of the 1999 Constitution started. Perhaps, I could still ask the questions as they are relevant.
Do we really need to undergo the exercise of tinkering with the provisions of the 1999 constitution? Or we consider the total overhaul of the whole constitution giving to ourselves a brand new baby rather than repackaging this ill-fated adopted child called constitution? Answering those questions, I think the proposed National Dialogue could lead to overhauling of the constitution.
I also remarked at the time that many things were wrong with this present constitution ab initio. The preamble says “We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria…give to ourselves….”. Everyone knows that this constitution was the premature child of necessity (probably an illegitimate child) hurriedly conceived, delivered, and handed over to the politicians by the military under the leadership of General Abdulsalam Abubakar. No wonder the end-product is defective. Perhaps the National Dialogue would also address this by reflecting the true ownership of the new Constitution since, it is believed, Nigerian citizens would be involved through this process.
Most importantly, I emphasised that the most hated issue of sovereign national conference would have been better than this amendment to the constitution. The conference would have afforded Nigerians of different ethnic nationalities to express their yearnings and aspirations for the existence of this country if it needs to exist at all as a nation, and to discuss the imbalance and injustice in our land.
Now, what we have is National Dialogue. Where is the Sovereign National Conference we were asking for? Are we sure the end-result of this National Dialogue is not going to suffer similar set backs that other similar conferences suffered in the past? Is the government of President Jonathan serious and really committed to the wish of the people? Going by various statements made by the President and his aides, the outcome of the dialogue shall be forwarded to the national Assembly for ratification. In effect, the National Assembly is still going to tinker with the outcome. This is where the problem lies as the final document might not reflect the yearnings and aspirations of the citizens of this country; it is hoped event would prove otherwise.
One unique feature of this dialogue is the fact that it is seemingly all-inclusive as different sections of the society were involved. These include CSOs/NGOs, Faith-Based Organizations, Community-Based Organizations, Organized labour, Private Sector, Community Development Associations, traditional rulers, professional associations, individuals, women, farmers, teachers including the politicians and the legislators themselves. It was gratifying to note that though there are dissenting voices against it, Nigerians as whole welcomed this National Dialogue which would serve as a vanguard of social justice and political freedoms, a forum for united front on key strategic issues affecting Nigerian citizens.
It is necessary we bare the minds of our people concerning the National Dialogue and their propositions. Efforts would be made to refer to only those ones that are pertinent to the southwest generally and others of relevance to this discourse. Though some of these may sound controversial, it portends the beauty of democracy, no doubt.
There are several burning issues from across the country being canvassed for inclusion at the dialogue. For easy understanding, the following key positions are germane: Constitutional reforms; Political party reforms; Electoral reform; Judicial reform; Police reform; and Civil Society reform. All these six key reform areas are the considered issues, in my view, for consideration at the National Dialogue and are largely but not limited to the following:
Devolution of Powers (too much concentration of power at the centre),
Federal Character: ossifies principle of fairness and breeds mediocrity and incompetence in civil service precluding attainment of vision 20-2020
Creation of more states and boundary adjustment to remove ambiguities, with contiguous linguistic groups federating with their homogenous groups (e.g Yoruba ethnic groups in Kwara, Kogi, Edo, Delta and Benue should federate with their brothers and sisters in the nearest states of Osun, Ekiti, and Ondo).
Recognition of the Six Geo-Political Zones in the Constitution with each having autonomy,
Three major ethnic groups recognised over 350 ethnic groups and preservation of the rights of the minority groups
Roles of Traditional Rulers
Local Government Autonomy
Revenue allocation and Fiscal Federalism; each federating unit generating its own resources and paying taxes to the central government,
Resource Control: southwest’s control of her sea, air, land and natural resources (oil and gas) remitting 15% net earning to the federal government.
CSOs reform: complementing govt effort; enabling environment (e.g. difficulty in registration with CAC); principles of accountability and transparency; proportional representation in national assignment
The Constitutional Amendment Process and writing a new one,
Immunity of certain public officers from prosecution with consideration for criminal cases,
Nigerian Police: Federal, regional and community police system that is not corrupt, non-partisan, and professional
Judicial System reforms: judiciary, bar, administration of justice, prison, alternative dispute resolution; the rule of law etc.
Prison System: admin reforms, infrastructural; decongestion; reformatory and rehabilitative vs punitive; human rights taking precedence,
Political party reforms including multi-party system, ideologies, manifestoes, ownership, financing, etc
Electoral reforms: independence and impartiality of INEC/SIEC; voting system; registration of voters; electoral staff and security officers, election observers; election petition, independence candidacy; Diaspora voting etc
No-go-area – negotiating the unity of Nigeria (different ideologies (Boko Haram), secession, self determination
Brief explanation of the points raised above are contained in my previous paper titled “Memorandum on the Review of 1999 Constitution Submitted by Dr David Tola Winjobi Convener, Campaign 2015+ International and Principal Coordinator, CAFSO-WRAG for Development Nigeria to the Senate Committee on Constitutional Review Held at Lagos Airport Hotel (Southwest) 15th and 16th November 2012”.
The United NationsInternational Women’s Day comes off again this March 8 2014 as it is annually celebrated globally. CAFSO-WRAG for Development joins the people of the world in celebrating the progress made for women’s rights, women’s empowerment, and gender equality. Inspiring Change is the 2014 theme and which encourages advocacy for women’s advancement everywhere in every way. It calls for challenging the status quo for women’s equality and vigilance inspiring positive change.
According to the Executive Director of UN-Women Mrs Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, “we acknowledge that progress has been slow, uneven and in some cases women and girls face new and more complex challenges”. In Nigeria, of much concern are major challenges such as poverty, hunger, inequality, violence against women or gender-based violence and insecurity of our children being slaughtered at will by dreaded Islamist sect Boko Haram in northeastern part of Nigeria.
The issue of gender-based violence and its attendant crimes should be of grave concern to us all. Up to a third of women in Nigeria report that they have been subjected to some form of violence including battery, verbal abuse, emotional and psychological trauma, marital rape, sexual exploitation and harassment (Nigeria NGO Coalition 208: 66). As much as 70 percent of unmarried women in some southern states of Nigeria are the most frequent victims of violence (Obi and Ozumba, 2007). Worse still, commonplace are cases of rape, pedophilia and incest apart from cases of husbands or related partners violating their spouses and close friends.
On the other hand are the challenges facing women’s participation in politics in Nigeria. Nigerian women remain largely under-represented at most levels of government including political positions and appointment, especially in ministerial and other executive bodies and in reaching the target of having 30 percent of decision-making positions held by women by 1995 as endorsed by UN ECOSOC. This under-representation in decision-making position in the arts, culture, sports, the media, education, religion, and law has prevented women from having a significant impact on many key institutions’ plans, programmes and policies. Men dominate political space by planning and organizing political meetings in the night. Ossifying women’s political participation is men’s use of violence including intimidation and physical assault. Women are constrained by men’s seemingly deployment of dirty politics characterised by character assassination, mudslinging, rigging, innuendos about moral standing etc apart from exorbitant nomination fee running to multiple of million Naira, depending on political party.
CAFSO-WRAG hereby calls on government to put appropriate and workable mechanisms in place to obstruct the obstacles preventing the realisation and enjoyment of all socio-economic rights of women including participation in politics.
On the issue of gender-based violence that has become commonplace, we urge the government to strengthen the implementation of recommendations in the National Gender Policy rather than paying political lip service to its implementation. We also enjoin each state government to enact (where non-existent) a bill prohibiting gender-based violence with stringent sanctions against the violators while justice is not only done but also seen to be done accordingly. If possible, each state government should establish and adequately fund a Gender Equality Unit within the judicial system which would be taking up cases of gender-based violence and playing an advisory role to the judiciary.
CAFSO-WRAG for Development also supports the UN Under-Secretary-General’s recommendation to various governments that by protecting our children from insurgency attacks and especially keeping girls in school longer, with quality education, we will empower young women to play their full role in society and build stronger families, communities and democracies. By advancing equal opportunity and removing structural barriers to women’s economic empowerment, we will reduce inequality and spur inclusive economic growth. By supporting women’s equal representation in leadership positions in peacemaking, in communities, in politics, in business and in religious institutions, we will build a more just, peaceful and secure world.
We wish Nigerian government a happy centenary celebration, a fruitful National Dialogue, an inspiring change for women’s rights, and a peaceful co-existence among Nigerian peoples for unity and faith, peace and progress of our country.
D. Tola Winjobi (PhD)
Principal Coordinator
CAFSO-WRAG for Development
The workshop commenced with registration at 9.05a.m while Imam Busairi Salaudeen said the opening prayer at10:40am to formally start the meeting.
INVITATION OF DIGNITARIES TO THE HIGH TABLE
The programme was anchored byBarr. Aderonke Ige who invited to the high table the following dignitaries: Miss Yewande Ige representing the Oyo State Ministry for Women Affairs and Social Welfare; Barrister Mrs. Grace Ketefe, the Resource person and the Principal Coordinator CAFSO-WRAG for Development Dr. Tola Winjobi. They were later joined by the Chairman, Oyo State House of Assembly House Committee on Women Affairs, Hon. Barr Yisau Azeez Adesope and Chairman House Committee on Works and Lands Hon. Wahab Oladejo.
WELCOME ADDRESS
A welcome address was given by Dr David Tola Winjobi the Principal Coordinator CAFSO-WRAG for Development. In his speech he stated some projects his organization has implemented which include:
Achieving MDGs in Nigeria: “Protect Women from dying in pregnancy and Children from Dying at Infancy” Sponsored by United Nations Millennium Campaign
Building a shelter for women victims of Gender-Based Violence and Human Trafficking (ALC/Rotary of Italy)
Research project on Street/Working Children in Urban Slum of Oyo State (Funded by UNICEF)
He made it known that Gender-Based Violence was topical and rampart in Nigeria. He shared some reported cases of a 50-year old man having sexual intercourse with 4 years old- a more or less infant girl with cases of rape rampart. He said right-based approach was the best way of tackling Gender-Based Violence.
PAPER DELIVERED BY THE RESOURCE PERSON
The resource person Barrister Mrs. Grace Ketefe in her presentation made it known that the highest incidence of Gender-Based Violence occurred in the home and at the bosom of closely knitted family. Incidents of Gender-Based Violence such as wife battery, rape, and killing etc. were or increase in Nigeria, according to her. Only 6 out of 36 States in Nigeria have laws prohibiting and punishing offenses on Gender-Based Violence.
Below are some definitions given on gender-based violence:
Ekiti State GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE (Prohibition) Law 2011 defines Gender-Based Violence as the violence that affects a person or group disproportionately because of their sex.
United Nations Populations Fund Gender Theme Group, 1996 defines Gender-Based Violence as violence involving men and women, in which the female is usually the victim and which is derived from unequal power relationships between men and women.
In her findings, statistics on Gender-Based Violence prevalence in national and at the global level shows that:
Among women aged 15-44 years, Gender-Based Violence accounts for more death and disability than combined effects of cancer, malaria, traffic-related injuries and war.
Women who are victims of domestic violence are 12times more likely to attempt suicide than those who do not experience such violence.
The following constitute types ofGender-Based Violence:
Physical Violence: assault and /battery, kicking, stabbing, human trafficking etc.
Psychological Violence: any behavior that makes another person feels constantly unhappy or afraid, jittery or depressed, including verbal abuse etc.
Economic Violence: Any act such as denial of funds, refusal to contribute financially, denial of food and basic needs and controlling of health care and employment.
Harmful Traditional Practices: female genital mutilation, child marriage, dowry related violence etc.
Domestic Violence: marital rape, confinement or detention against her will, verbal and emotional abuses etc.
Sexual violence: any forceful engagement of another in a sexual conduct that abuses, humiliates or degrades the other person or otherwise defiles another person’s sexual integrity or a sexual contact of a person aware of being infected with HIV/STD. Examples include rape, sexual harassment, child defilement forced sterilization and pregnancy.
She also shared some strategies for curbing GBV which include:
Coordinated Responses to Gender-Based Violence: the responses are from the health, legal and social support all combined together to ensure that victims live a very rewarding and fulfilled life after experience.
Coordinated legal responses to victims of Gender-Based Violence will ensure that victim enjoys the following services:
Referrals to/from police and social support sectors
Effective Police/Justice statement –taking and documentation
Ensure the safety of the survivor
Prosecution of the perpetrators
Reintegration and establishment of the victim of Gender-Based Violence: to reintegrate the victims it is important to provide social support, provision of safe hosing/shelter, relocation services, if required and if necessary long-term psychosocial counseling and rehabilitation.
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE PLENARY
The following contributions to the discussions were made:
Imam Busairi of World Islamic Peace Foundation gave his contribution stating that suffering and smiling life style is applicable to Muslim women and Nigerian women in general.
Dr. (Mrs.) Dupe Ladapo representing Women and Children Aids Initiative also shared a story about a man who defiled her daughter and fight against any young men try or willing to be in relationship with her daughter.
Mrs.Tola-Winjobi also advised we stop stigmatization when we know someone who is a victim of rape while she also shared the case of a Quran teacher that raped one of his students.
TECHNICAL WORKING GROUPS
There were three technical groups in all each focusing on:
Presentation of a bill on GBV
Position paper on Gender-Based Violence (GBV)
Manifestations of GBV and suggestions for curbing it
The first group worked on proposed bill. The following were amendments proposed:
(1) LONG TITLE: A law to provide for prohibition and protection against GBV and related matter
(2) SECTION 2(5) 48hrs as opposed to 72hrs
(3) To be included in the bills:
(a) Punishment section
(b) Emergency monetary relief for victims who have suffering financially or monetarily
(c) “Attempts” should be provided for and penalized accordingly
(d) After- care services for the victim to include counseling, psycho- social support etc
The second group worked on the position paper. Below is the breakdown on the structure of the paper:
(1) Profile of the organization including vision and mission, and objectives
(2) Introduction to GBV
(3) Types & causes of GBV
(4) Data and Equivalence (Statistics)
(5) Addressing the issue (GBV)
(6) Challenges of GBV
(7) Conclusion
The third group worked on manifestation of GBV and suggestions for curbing it. The following key inputs were made:
The various dimensions of GBV were presented under the following sub-divisions
(i) Physical violence: assault, battery, acid bath, hot water bath
(ii) Psychological Violence
(iii) Economics Violence: women as bread winner, stopping a woman from working, financial deprivation.
(iv) Harmful traditional practices: inheritance, girl forced to marriage, genital mutilation, widowhood practices.
(v) Sexual Violence: forced sex, tying of hands, legs, mouth and the eyes.
(vi) Institutional Violence: discrimination and marginalization at the work place, more men in decision making positions.
Suggestions for curbing Gender-Based Violence:
Public enlighten and sensitization: involving media, print and electronic means, and sensitization training for police, health workers, and religious institutions.
Stakeholders – governments, NBA, FIDA etc – should ensure that culprits are bought to book.
Overall sensitization of people.
Establishment of GBV Unit in the High Court
The legislative arm to make legislation on GBV while existing bill be passed into law.
Create a better legal frame work to prosecute and punish GBV perpetrators (it should be a state case, and whoever tries to cover suit case up should be prosecuted).
Promote positive cultural values through media, schools etc.
Setting up peer educators in schools.
Emphasize adequate sex education in schools and homes.
Set up public counseling center on reproductive health and Gender-Based Violence.
Provision of shelter to rehabilitate victims and give them protection.
ADDRESS BY HONOURABLES ADESOPE AND OLADEJO
Hon. Azeez Yisau Adesope and Hon. Wahab Oladejo came in during the formation of technical group on GBV and shared with us their interest in GBV. They were in support of the proposed bill on GBV. They promised to support the bill when brought to the House for legislation. They also told us the procedures for presenting bill to the house of assembly which includes forwarding our proposed bill to the House of Assembly and having a link in the House of Assembly that will hasten the proposed bill which ordinarily should undergo three readings before being passed into law.
FORMATION OF ADVOCACY CHAMPIONS
All the participants were designated as advocacy champions on GBV. However, the workshop resolved to fast-track the process of campaigning and legislation against GBV by appointing the following organizations and individuals to do a follow up to the activities:
Dr D. Tola Winjobi, CAFSO-WRAG for Development
Barr. Miss Aderonke Ige, Justice Development and Peace Commission
Barr. Mrs W. Funmi Odutayo, Legal Aid Council
Barr Miss Ifeoma Obiajulu, Legal Rights Protection Organization
Barr. Miss Oluwakemi Ogunsade, FIDA Oyo State
Dr Mrs M.A. Ladapo, Women and Children Aid Initiative
Sheik Imam Salaudeen Busairi, World Islamic Peace Foundation
ATTENDANCE
A total number oftwenty- six (26) participants, six more than the number originally envisaged, attended the workshop.
ADJOURNMENT
A vote of thanks was given by Mrs Deborah Salami while the closing prayer was said by Dr. (Mrs) Ladapo M.A at 3:40 p.m.
United Nations Human Rights Council logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
INTRODUCTION
The Freedom of Information Act, 2011 in its explanatory memorandum, makes public records and information more freely available, provide for public access to public records and information, protect public records and information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the protection of personal privacy, protect serving public officers from adverse consequences for disclosing certain kinds of official information without authorization and establish procedure for the achievement of those purposes. What this means, is that the act creates the right to access to information in the custody of or under the control of public institutions or authorities and establishes a legal regime for the exercise and/or enforcement of this right.
A Freedom of Information Act cannot just work on the basis of requests by individual members of the public. This is an important part of public access to information but it is not the only part. The authorities need to take active steps to disseminate certain key types of information to the public. This way, the public as a whole will be well informed without having to make requests for information. But, in addition, members of the public who wish to request specific information cannot know with any certainty what information public institutions hold, so they do not know what to ask for. Public institutions are all authorities whether executive, legislative or judicial agencies, ministries, and extra-ministerial departments of the government, together with all corporations established by law and all companies in which government has a controlling interest, and private companies utilizing public funds, providing public services or performing public function. It is therefore essential that all public bodies should be required to publish certain key information about what they do. This includes: how the body functions, its objectives, budget, audited accounts, internal structures and staff complement.
REASONS FOR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
Less corruption:Corruption thrives on secrecy. Individuals and institutions become corrupt when there is no public scrutiny of what they do. The more that they operate in the public gaze the less corrupt (and more efficient) they are likely to become.
Freedom from hunger: This may seem like a strange thing to put on this list. Yet, the Nobel prize-winning economistAmartya Sen has argued that famines do not happen in countries with a free press. His argument is that famines are caused by the inaction of governments. Governments do not dare to be inactive on such an important issue when they are subject to constant media scrutiny.
A healthier society: This may also seem a strange benefit from freedom of information. Yet, consider, for example, the greatest public health crisis of our time – the HIV-AIDS pandemic. In its early years, HIV infection was able to spread so rapidly because of the lack of publicly available information about the virus and how to avoid it. Countries that had effective public information programmes – such as Uganda, which was once the worst affected in the world – have been able to turn the tide of HIV infection. More recently, the Chinese government’s failure to be open about the gravity of the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) contributed to the spread of the condition not only within the country but in the outside world. Its belated admission of the seriousness of the SARS outbreak immediately made it easier for the public health authorities to bring it under control.
A cleaner environment: Many of the decisions taken that cause damage to the environment are made behind closed doors. Most of these decisions could be avoided if all planning decisions had to be accompanied by an environmental impact study – which in turn should be made available to the public.
Respect for human rights: Human rights violations, like corruption, flourish in a climate of secrecy. Some of the worst human rights violations, such as torture, are almost by definition something that takes place behind closed doors. An open government – including, for example, publication of investigations into allegations of human rights violations – is far more likely to result in respect for human rights.
Respect for privacy: Without freedom of information there is nothing to guarantee that governments (and other powerful bodies) will not amass vast quantities of information about individuals. If the individual always has the right to see what information is held about them, their right to privacy is more likely to be respected. In addition, people have a right to make sure that the information held about them is accurate. If this is not the case, wrong and potentially damaging decisions could be made.
A more secure society: This is possibly the most controversial item on this list. The argument in favour of official secrecy is that this is necessary in order to safeguard “national security”. Yet there is a much better argument for saying that public scrutiny of decisions related to defence and intelligence is likely to make for a more secure society. For example, many countries have a long experience of unaccountable intelligence services that direct their activities against domestic political opponents rather than genuine threats to national security. Freedom of information can help to curb such behaviour. Secrecy can lead to corruption and inefficiency in the security services, which in turn undermines security.
More effective democracy: Freedom of information is crucial for effective democracy. How can the electorate make an informed choice if they are denied information about what the government – their government – has been doing? Political leaders are more likely to act in accordance with the wishes of the electorate if they know that their actions can be constantly scrutinised by the public.
WHAT ARE THE ROLES OF PUBLIC OFFICERS?
SECTION 3 –Head of institutions shall publish in the Federal gazette a description of the organisation and responsibilities of the institution including details of programme and functions of each division, branch and department etc
SECTION 31-Attorney-General & MIN. OF JUSTICE – shall encourage govts and institutions to comply. 3&7
Court should be alive to its responsibily.
Heads of institutions should constitute FOIA committees, appoint desk officers and train them.
Institutions must be proactive by displaying information to the public on the internet, newspapers etc.
ROLES
Make the Act work by adding value. Meet requesters with politeness
The role of public officials in a democracy is to serve the public. This is why they are called public or civil servants. You should meet every person who requests information with this principle of serving the public in mind. You should treat all requesters as equal, and meet them with politeness.
Advise and assist them when making their request
You should advise and assist them in making their request, taking into consideration that the requester may not know what information exactly to look for, where to look for it, or how to file a request. Provision should be made to ensure full access to information for certain groups, for example those who cannot read or write, those who do not speak the language of the record, or those who suffer from disabilities such as blindness. In such cases you should help the customer to put their request into writing, include your name and position in the body, and give a copy to the person who made the request. User-friendly systems have been established in Denmark and the Netherlands where applications can be made verbally. The Belgian legislation gives requesters the right to have documents explained to them.
Direct them to where the information can be found
If the information requested is already publicly available, for example on an internet site, in information bulletins or in an annual report, you should indicate to the requester where he or she can find the information. If you do not hold the information the requester is looking for, you should direct him or her to the correct person or body where the information can be found.
Process requests rapidly and fairly
Requests for information should be processed rapidly and fairly within the time limits prescribed by law. The reasons for any refusal of information should be given to the requester with a comprehensive written explanation.
Inform requesters of their rights
The freedom of Information Act made an independent review of any refusals through court of law. In case you decide not to disclose the requested information, you should inform the requester that he or she can appeal this decision by applying to court.
You may refuse vexatious requests
Notwithstanding, it is legitimate for public bodies to refuse frivolous or vexatious requests.
Keep in touch with requesters.
Keep the requester informed of the progress of their request, if the request is such that processing it will take some time. This will be the case for example when it involves a large amount of information or numerous documents.
So, what do you need to do when you receive a request? Here is a Checklist:
Provide the requester with a receipt documenting the request;
Provide the requester with a reference number for the request to make it easier to trace the request later on;
Explain the procedure of how the request will be handled (for this purpose, the public body could have a leaflet explaining the standard procedure for handling information requests);
Keep the person informed of the progress of their request, especially if it involves a large amount of information which will take time to find.
The Role of CSO’s
The Act provides people the right to access government-held information and requires systems to be set up for ensuring transparent and accountable government. The purpose of the Act is to create an informed citizenry capable of participating in the decision-making processes of government at all levels. In this context, the right to information becomes a key tool for ensuring that public authorities more effectively meet their goal of promoting participation and entrenching accountable government at the grassroots level.
Lack of awareness and training and public education are the main reasons why people find it difficult to access information from various government institutions. Civil society organisation (CSOs), especially those working at the grassroots in rural areas need to be aware about this landmark legislation in our country. More importantly they have the specific responsibility to spread awareness about this Act amongst the people and monitor its implementation.
The main roles of the CSOs towards the successful implementation of the FOI Act are;
Advocacy
Advocacy is getting the support of key stakeholders
Generating awareness
Awareness generation and public
Education
Print handbills, posters and pamphlets on FOIA for wide-scale distribution.
Spread awareness about FOIA through wall writing, group discussions, pamphlet distribution, rallies, street plays, awareness camps etc.
Inform people about governments duty to proactively disclose information;
Share successful case studies on use of FOIA by ordinary citizens in order to enable people to appreciate its value and importance;
Building capacity among the community on FOIA.
Capacity Building
Organise FOIA workshops seminars, inter-face at wards, local govt, town halls, CDA, youth org., States and Federal level with the purpose of increasing awareness and knowledge about FOIA.
Organise FOIA workshops for CSOs, media, government officials, women organisations, professional organisations, market men and women, traditional institutions members of Self Help Groups, retired government officials, teachers, media.
Using provisions under the act in monitoring public service delivery
It must be borne in mind that awareness creation in citizen and capacity building of government officials ned to be done side by side in other to strenghten the demand side for accessing information as well as the supply side for giving information. Kudos to the organisers and sponsors. Hope sponsors will continue to give support to CSOs to continue the momentum tha will be generated.
Using Provisions Under The Act in Monitoring Public Service Delivery
Participation in governance is at the heart of any successful democracy. As citizens, we need to participate not only at the time of elections but on a day-to-day basis – when decisions on policy, laws and schemes are being made and projects and activities are being implemented. Public involvement not only enhances the quality of governance but also promotes transparency and accountability in government functioning. But in reality how can citizens take part in governance? How can the public understand how decisions are being made? How can ordinary people find out how tax money is being spent or if public schemes are being properly run or whether the government is acting honestly and fairly when it makes decisions? How can government servants be made answerable to the public they are supposed to serve? Social audit?
What is Social Audit?
Social Audit is an independent and participatory evaluation of the performance of a public agency or a programme or scheme. It is an instrument of social accountability whereby an in-depth scrutiny and analysis of working of a public authority vis-à-vis its social responsibility can be undertaken. It also enables the Civil Society to access whether a public authority lives up to the shared values and objectives it is committed to. It provides an assessment of the impact of public institutions non-financial objectives through systematic and regular monitoring based on the views of its stakeholders.
Benefits of Social Audit
The primary benefits of Social Audit are:
Complete transparency: In the process of administration and decision-making, Social Audit ensures an obligation on part the Government to provide full access to all relevant information.
Rights Based Entitlement: Social Audit propagates rights-based entitlements for all the affected persons (and not just their representatives) to participate in the process of decision making and validation.
Informed Consent: Social Audit provides for the right of the affected persons to give informed consent, as a group or as individuals, as appropriate.
Immediate Answerability: Social Audit enables swift and prompt response by the elected representatives and Government functionaries, on their relevant actions or inactions, to the concerned people.
Speedy Redress of Grievances: Social Audit ensures speedy redress of grievances of the affected people by the public agencies.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I want to appreciate the efforts of the organisers for putting up this programme. I urge CSOs, Media and NOA to collaborate and make FOIA work well in Nigeria. I salute the Undp and others for sponsoring the event. Finally, please let us ‘Do the right thing to transform Nigeria’.
REFERENCES
1. Freedom of Information Act 2011
2. Sohini Paul; Roleof civil Society Organisatios in Implementation of RTI in India
3. ATI, Kohima; Right to Information Act, 2005 and the Role of NGOs, CSOs RTI Cell
Going by available statistics published by the United Nations, about 90 countries the world over have this type of law operating in their respective domains. The FOI Act Nigeria was signed into law on 28th March, 2011 by President Goodluck Jonathan. Lagos and Ekiti States have domesticated the law albeit with slight variations to suit their local situations.
As discernible from the long title of the Act, it is “An Act to make Public records and Information freely available, provide for public access to Public Records and Information, protect public records and information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the protection of personal privacy, protect serving public officers from adverse consequences for disclosing certain official information and establish procedures for the achievement of those purposes and for related purposes…”
From the coinage of the topic of this presentation, it can be deduced that the essence is to properly place the “rule of law” as a sine qua non for a successful operation/ application of the Freedom of Information Act and its local variants (as adopted and enacted by some states in the Federation) in our country. But before delving into the topic proper, it is necessary to deal with the issue as to whether or not the F. O. I Act is of general application in all the component states of Nigeria. I will say that the position on this as at today is still fluid but it suffices at this point to mention that some states including Lagos and Ekiti have enacted their own versions of it.
Before considering how rule of law will perform the three identified functions of Promoting, Accessingand Upholdingthe Freedom of Information Act, there is the need to put the term “rule of law” in proper perspective. It was coined by A. V. Dicey a renowned British Jurist in 19th century. Several connotations and denotations have been given to the term.
Two of them are as follows:
“…influence and authority of law within society, especially as a constraint upon behavior of government officials”.
“…implies that every citizen is subject to the law”.
The modern conception of rule of law developed as a concept distinct from “rule of man”. It involves a system of governance based on non-arbitrary rules as opposed to one based on the power and wish of the absolute ruler.
In its simplest form, the rule of law principle posits that everybody is equal before the law, the governed as well as the governor.
At this juncture, it is apposite to pause and ask, what actually is the relationship/nexus between the principles of rule of law and the Freedom of Information Act?
According to Doctor Mack Cooray in his article titled the “rule of law”, following form Professor A. V. Dicey’s writing about rule of law certain essential characteristics have emerged as its components. They are:
Supremacy of law which means that all persons (individuals and government) are subject to law.
Concept of Justice- which emphasizes interpersonal adjudication, law based on standards and the importance of procedures.
Restriction on the exercise of discretionary power.
Doctrine of judicial precedent.
Common law methodology
Legislation should be prospective and not retrospective.
An independent judiciary
Exercise by Parliament of legislative power and restrictions of exercise of legislative power by the executive.
An underlying moral basis for law.
In the same vein, a group known as the World Justice Project has indentified four universal principles that must be upheld under rule of law. These are:
Government and its officials and agents as well as individuals and private entities are accountable under the law.
The laws are clear, publicized, stable and just are applied evenly, and protect fundamental rights, including the security of persons and property.
The process by which the laws are erected, administered and enforced is accessible, fair and efficient.
Justice is delivered timely by competent, ethical and independent representatives and neutrals who are of sufficient number, have adequate resources and reflect the makeup of the communities.
Those four cardinal principles of the world justice project appears to me to be a collapse of the nine components distilled form A. V. Dicey’s writing. They can be said to encapsulate all that are required for the rule of law to prevail in a society.
As revealed by the long title to the Freedom of Information Act, the purpose of that law is to give Nigerians access to information on acts and activities of government, also to protect public sector workers who in the course of their employment or tenure of office reveal certain facts which revelation hitherto will amount to an offence from being sanctioned for such revelation once it is shown that it was done in public interest. People who act in such way are now referred to as “whistle blowers”. The F. O. I Act has thirty sections in which it attempts to cover the field on all perceived areas needed to ensure that the intendment of the law is achieved. It covers issues such as right of access to public records (section 2); recording and keeping of information by public institution (section 3); request for access to records and how such request is processed sections (4,5,6,7); what to do where access is refused (section 8); grounds for denying a request (sections 12,13,15,16,17,18,20); right to challenge a denial in court (section 21); procedure to be adopted by the court in treating such matters (sections 22,23,24,25, & 26); materials exempted under the act (section 27); protection of an officers of public institution or any person acting on behalf of such institution from civil or criminal liability from disclosing requested information, also protection of a public officer who discloses information without authorization in given circumstances and also protection of the receiver of such information (section 28); among others. Without gainsay, the F. O. I Act contains quite a number of salutary provisions which if properly and sincerely applied will go a long way in the quest to tame corruption in our society. The Act has also responded albeit in part to the clamour to make the fundamental objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy as contained in Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria justiciable. This is because the F. O. I Act affords Nigerians opportunity to participate in governance as provided for under section 14(2) (c) of the 1999 constitution.
All said and done, the F. O. I. Act is in itself a microcosm of what the rule of law concept is all about in that it seeks to ensure that government, its employees, appointees elected officers as well as agents operate within the ambit of our laws and the Act also empowers the citizens as watch dogs for the said purpose. But laudable as the Act may be it is not yet Uhuru until its provisions are tested and bounced against real life situations vis-à-vis the well established tenets of the rule of law that we can then talk about its having achieved its purpose. To facilitate this, I want to make the following suggestions:
Public Officers (career and political) must readily play their roles as enshrined in the Act. There is the need for a thorough re-orientation of the said officers in this regard considering the situation prior to the enactment of the F. O. I Act.
Government at all levels too must remove all impediments that can hinder the smooth operation of the Act and show sincerely.
The Judiciary must also be ready and exhibit capacity to play its role in a positive and most effective manner in adjudicating on issues that arise from the operation of the act.
The citizenry too must be vigilant and be ready to seize the initiative in making the Act work. Knowing that a vast majority of the populate lack the wherewithal to do this, the Media and the Civil Society organizations amongst others are expected to be pro-active and be the vanguards in this area.
Where the need arises to have a review of some of the provisions of the Act, the legislature should respond promptly and do the needful.
There is also the need to publicize and simplify the provisions of the Act for quick and easy understanding of the masses.
Access to the court where judicial review becomes necessary must be made easy and affordable for the generality of the populace.
The above suggestions of mine are by no means exhaustive. But I consider them the minimum that must be met in order that the F. O. I. Act can be made to work.
Advocacy is not a noise making exercise as some people are wont to believe. Though it might be necessary to drum the beat of change into the hearing of the target authorities, this goes beyond noise making; it is speaking out. Advocacy is not blind agitation, though it involves the use of pressure to effect a change. Though implied, advocacy is not just proposing changes to the existing policies; it subsumes creating new policies where none existed before. Advocacy is not an information-education-entertainment initiative though it can inform, educate and communicate to the people the benefits of socio-economic policies that might impact on the lives of all irrespective of gender or status.
‘seeking with, and on behalf of, the poor, to address the underlying causes of poverty by influencing the decisions of governments, companies, groups, and individuals whose policies or actions affect the poor’ (Tear Fund 1999).
What Advocacy Is
The word ‘advocacy’ takes its roots from the Latin ‘ad vocare’ meaning to speak for someone, not only speaking for but also speaking with the people proposing or recommending something or someone for better options. It implies identifying a cause, believing in it, mobilizing and influencing others to support it so as to change the policy or programme that is negatively affecting that cause.
Kinds of Advocacy
The following are common kinds of advocacy, though the list is not exhaustive:
Feminist advocacy: focuses campaigning solely on women’s identity and ideology.
Gender advocacy: believes in equity of resources between male and female, young or old.
Policy advocacy: may be targeted towards the executive or the legislative arms of government, works towards changing the existing programme of actions or set of principles and policies or enacting a new one for the benefit of all especially the common man.
Legislative advocacy: sometimes used interchangeably with policy advocacy which may emanate from the executive arm of government, focuses on working with and using only the parliament to effect a change in policy or enact a new one.
Confrontational advocacy: this deals more with the strategy of achieving a change at all cost by all means without necessarily promoting dialogue.
Legitimate advocacy: This is advocating for a change through compliance with recognized rules, standards or traditions.
Egocentric advocacy: suggests pressing for a change for a selfish reason.
Demonstrative advocacy: This is a type of advocacy in which the advocates themselves take up the responsibility of the target of advocacy so as to show deficiency of the latter or to challenge the latter to take a cue.
Sectoral advocacy: while focusing on campaigning for a reform and a change in policies it targets the specific sector of the economy such as health, water, agriculture, education, land and housing etc. both in public and private sectors.
Economic advocacy: it focuses attention on economic issues affecting the nation such as debt cancellation, reform, due process, pro-poor budgeting, extractive industries etc.
Social Service advocacy: this is related to both economic advocacy and sectoral advocacy as the main focus here is campaigning for the social welfare of the people in which donors, for example, should provide funds directly to the government who will factor this into the national budget example is Direct Budget System (DBS).
Media advocacy deals with the strategy of achieving advocacy goal through the use of media both print and electronic.
The main purpose of advocacy is to engage authorities or governments in dialogue so as to effect a change in their existing policies, practices, beliefs and ideas that are anti-people and not poor-responsive.
In addition, where there were no policies before, advocacy would aim at causing the authorities to enact new policies on emerging issues that are adversely affecting the lives of the people.
Advocacy is necessary in order to: influence the policy makers as a means of addressing roots and causes of the particular problem; contribute more effectively to reducing poverty and preventing deaths and suffering through the use of a wide range of intervention; reach a large segment of the population and broaden the scope of program impact; increase financial and material support for programmes.
Objectives of Advocacy
Change laws/policies,
Enact new legislation (e.g. pre-2011 FOIA),
Change the position of policymakers and or authorities,
Change the action of policymakers and or authorities.
Secondary Objectives
In the process of carrying out each or all of the above objectives, we could be carrying out and achieving other objectives that we might or we might not have planned for. Secondary objectives could be
Increasing media awareness on an issue that is not necessarily germane to the issue on focus,
Increasing access to policy-makers by the poor masses
Whether as a group or as an individual, there are certain qualities an advocate should possess. These include but are not limited to:
Being passionate;Being diplomatic;Being persuasive;Being sensitive
Being tactful;
Being resilient;
Being credible;
Being dependable;Being knowledgeable;Being resourceful;Being strategic;
Being pleasant;
Having communication skills and;
Using lobbying skills
Methods/Strategies/Tools
Advocacy methods might be used synonymously with tools or strategies for the purpose of this discourse. In order to make advocacy effective, it should be communicated through a variety of methods and activities. It is vital when advocating to use methods that complement each other in order to have the greatest impact on the widest selection of targets possible because if methods are not coordinated, resources can be wasted and objectives undermined. It is also important to represent the interests and views of the widest selection of people as advocacy sometimes is a game of number.
Lobbying
“Lobbying”, derived from the word “lobby”, is a tool used in advocacy by the pressure group that tries to influence a politician on a particular issue. Lobbying involves two or more people. It is building of alliances in order to exert pressure on decision-makers and accomplish expected results; it can sway decision-making in a favourable way for the best interest of the community; it also plays a major role for organizations striving to influence government policies towards their interests. Therefore, lobbying is considered as an action consisting of conducting interventions intended to influence directly or indirectly the development, implementation or revision processes of legislative (or executive) measures, standards and rules.
Different kinds of lobbying strategy
Lobbying a decision-making body: Initiating a bill for legislation could emanate from any arm of government or the public – The executive bill or The legislature or members of the public.
At whatever level the bill is initiated lobbying might be necessary in order to fast-track the bill into law or make the executive accede to it. Lobbying could take place within the legislature among the lawmakers themselves or within a particular committee or between one committee and the other while members of the public could also lobby the legislators in their surgeries or in the house of parliament.
This strategy calls for five different functions of the members of parliament that can be used by pressure groups:
Contribute to improving a bill in committee
Question decision-makers
Liaise with the executive on behalf of his constituency
Make suggestions
Assist the executives
Remind authorities
Direct lobbying: This is an approach built on personal communication between the lobbyists and the lobbied. Personal communication subsumes: presentation, contact, meetings, letters, informal conversation, telephone conversation and so on. It involves getting one’s position across to the decision-makers without an intermediary. The techniques used in direct lobbying are:
Oral presentation
A letter to a VIP
Informational meeting;
Approach to support committees
Contact with Clubs, Associations or Foundations etc.
An example of a situation in which direct lobbying could be useful is when a personal contact is made to, for example, the Chairman House Committee on Legal Matters so as to pressure her committee to enact a bill on FOIA in the state.
Indirect Lobbying: This strategy aims at achieving the same result as in direct lobbying but with the help of an intermediary but one is more efficient than the other. In the example given above, the chair of the House Committee on health is a woman, her committee is a committee that is directly involved in enacting such bills on health-related issues, and the committee was approached directly. However, an issue might be on increasing budgetary allocation to education to 26 percent, for instance. A group of two or three “unskilled” lobbyists might decide to approach a lawyer to draft such a bill on their behalf for the benefit of the community and submit it to the House of Representatives through the Speaker’s Office or the Clerk of the House. The Speaker might assign this bill to the appropriate committee to handle it and for subsequent presentations (readings).
The 3-man lobbyists do not make any move about the bill other than the job given to the lawyer. Lobbying only takes place at the instance of the lawyer who uses his professional skills to draft the bill and persuades the Speaker’s office to help submit the bill to the appropriate house committee for hearing. More indirect method is for the lobbyists to approach the family members, friends, and associates of any of the legislators requesting them to engage the latter in such (legislative) matter of interest since they are likely to listen in deference to such relations and cronies.
Lobbying community leaders (Gate keepers): Among the community leaders are the traditional rulers, the heads of the households, heads of towns’ unions, political leaders, heads of markets and trade groups, and religious leaders. The non-state actors could approach these people so as to lobby them to support a legislation that would impact on the wellbeing of the community.
To influence the community leaders on issues dealing with tradition, one should know how to develop arguments drawing from their own references since they are keepers of tradition in their own right. For instance, one needs tact and wisdom to convince the traditional leaders the need to support the legislative campaign on the harmful effect of the female genital mutilation or widowhood practices, for example, as the practices are rooted in the tradition of the people. However, it is important to prove to them that their status is not threatened.
Lobbying aimed at public opinion: The best methods of lobbying are often those that are discreet as described above. Some of the time, those methods do not succeed because of the “unskillful” manner lobbying is handled by the personalities involved or because of lack of understanding or the ulterior motive of the authorities concerned. However, when it is clear that the latter factor overbears the former, then public opinions should be resorted to in order to influence the decision-makers.
In this case, every available strategy at the disposal of the lobbyists could be used. This includes media campaign, mass protest, mass mobilization, propaganda, letter writing, petition, strike action, stakeholder lobbying etc. A combination of these methods are being used in Nigeria to garner support for and pressure the National Assembly to pass the Freedom of Information Bill.
Collaborating/Partnering
These are situational agreements in order to defend a common interest or to oppose a common opponent. It is a forming a group of organizations or individuals committed to working in the long-term on the issue of advocacy. There are two types of collaborating:
Collaboration of individuals: it is made up of a large pool of volunteers with strong personal commitment; freedom to come in consensus on issues without external influences.
Collaboration of organizations: this type of collaboration is made up of organizations. Each organization comes with its strength, followers, resources, expertise and reputation.
Advantages of Collaboration
There is strength in numbers, achieving goals that single organization or individual cannot.
More publicity.
Expanded pool of resources and varied skills.
Expanded knowledge/support base.
A leadership/staff with good diplomacy and negotiating skill.
To be successful in advocacy, it is important to build alliances. This allows for uniting forces, better complementing each other’s effort and having more leverage. This requires trust relation between the advocacy group and its allies. Building alliances is carried out in five stages
Identification and choice of partners
Getting to know the partners through its name, mode of operation, orientations, strategies, activities and interests.
Sharing the objectives with the partners and taking an interest in achieving the same objectives.
Definition of each partner’s participation.
Managing and maintaining partnership once it is established6.
Media work
Media work is also a very important method of advocacy; the media work has the chance to influence the image of the government because most governments care about their image. Because the media is the maker and shaper of images, their role is then very important in making advocacy successful. There are three types of media:
Print media ( news paper, journals, magazine etc)
Electronic media ( television and radio)
Social media (twitters, facebook, netlog, etc)
The media can play a key role in:
Building awareness and changing public opinion on issues
Generate action from its audience
Put direct pressure on government by placing it in the spotlight
Protect and enhance reputation
Investigate and expose issues
Influence government policy, both directly and through its power to influence and mobilize opinions.
Different campaign demands different media strategy, it is therefore important to identify target audience and find the specific media that will best reach an audience or a number of different audiences and media strategy should specify about what action is needed7.
Campaigning
Campaigning is choosing a specific course of action on the basis of available information and resources which will be most effective in achieving identified objectives. It is an organized course of action to achieve change by convincing the target audience. When campaigning, the following principles must be put into consideration: focus, clarity, credibility, relevance, timing and commitment.
Mobilization
Mobilization is a very important method of advocacy that subsumes synergizing the critical masses of the people, financial, material and technical resources for a common purpose. In simple terms, the types of resources concerned are individuals, groups, money, contribution in kind, labour, expertise and administrative support, including premises for meetings, supplies and equipment10.
It is important to mobilize the community that will benefit from the change. Among the benefit of community mobilization is that it improves program design, quality result and evaluation. Also, it increases community ownership and community, individual and group capacity to identify and satisfy their needs9.
Resource Mobilization
Resource mobilization is also playing a vital role in advocacy because without resources, advocacy could not survive. In order to maintain this effort in long term, time and energy must be invested to secure the necessary funds and resources. Types of resources and sources that could be used:
Personal contributions which comprises subscriptions, contributions in kind, income generating activities, from all the members of the advocacy group.
External contributions which comprise donation, legacies, sponsoring, collections, contributions from institutions, companies and various organizations that have been approached.
Letter writing
It is a written message packaged and sent to someone for a purpose including the conventional messages sent by post and email messages sent through the internet. A large number of letters can be a good way of demonstrating the extent of awareness and concern in the society about certain issue. Individual letter can demonstrate a depth knowledge and personal concern, while letters from eminent people can have a particularly great impact. However, letter-writing is such a flexible technique that it can be used in many different ways. Letters can be directed to the necessary authority to make a change on the issue addressed11.
Petition
Petition is a written document signed by a large number of people that asks somebody in a position of authority to do or change something. Petition is also used as an advocacy method. It has a tradition in public protest that goes back many centuries. Some of the benefits of petition are:
It can provide a good focus for group and public activities.
It is a simple way of allowing people to express their support.
It can illustrate the level of public/community on an issue.
It is easy and cheap to organize12.
Choosing appropriate advocacy methods
There are no simple rules for choosing the best advocacy methods. Your choice will depend on many factors:
The target person/group/institution;
The advocacy issue;
Your advocacy objective;
The evidence to support your objective;
The skills and resources of your coalition; and
Timing – for example, external political events, when a law is still in draft form, immediately before a budgeting process, time of year, stage of advocacy process.
Factors to Consider in Community Mobilization on Advocacy Concern
FACTORS TO CONSIDER
CONDITIONS THAT FACILITATE ADVOCACY
CONDITIONS THAT INHIBIT ADVOCACY
Magnitude of the problem
Political support
Socio-cultural context
Resources (time, money, skills of staff, and community, equipment and supplies)
COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT WORKSHOP ON ADVOCACY SKILLS FOR CSOs AND THE MEDIA ON FOI ACT IMPLEMENTATION IN THE SOUTHWEST AT RICHTON HOTEL & SUITES, ABEOKUTA FROM 11TH TO 12TH SEPTEMBER 2013
Preamble
The Capacity Enhancement Workshop on Advocacy Skills for CSOs and Media on FOI Act Implementation in the South West was organized by the South West FOIA Network and supported by the Democratic Governance for Development (DGD-II) Project and its international partners – the EU, DFID, CIDA and UNDP. A total of 43 organizations from all the states of the region participated in the workshop.
Objectives
The objectives of the workshop were to:
Strengthen the advocacy skills of the CSOs to engage the leadership of the three arms of government in the Southwest States in pressing them to concretely implement the provisions of the FOIA in their respective states, in line with the age-long progressive leaning of the region.
Provide a platform for generating discussions and relevant actions around FOIA implementation.
Devise strategies that the Network could deploy to engage the law-makers in the respective states in the region in drafting and passing acceptable state FOI laws consistent with the FOIA at the national level.
Identify with a view to partnering with relevant MDAs, the institutional bodies affected by the FOIA and development partners in ensuring unfettered FOIA implementation.
Increase the capacity and skills of CSOs and the Media to embark on relevant activities to increase the level of awareness on the FOIA among members of the public including those at the grassroots.
The workshop was attended by representatives of CSOs and Media in the South West geo-political zone. The keynote address was delivered by Mrs. Abimbola Ibironke Akeredolu, the Hon. Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice for Ogun State ably represented by the Director, Legal Drafting, Barrister Lanre Iyanda.
There were also lead presentations on: ‘Understanding the Role of Public Officials and CSOs in the Successful Implementation of the FOIA in Nigeria’; ‘Community Mobilisation for Development: Strategies for CSOs Use of FOI Act in Making Requests’; ‘Traditional and Social Media as Watchdogs of FOIA implementation’; ‘Understanding Essential Elements of Advocacy in Engaging the Authorities on FOI Act: Some Critical Tools for CSOs’; ‘Methods and Strategies for Monitoring the Implementation of Freedom of Information Act’ and ‘The Imperative of the Rule of Law as a Fulcrum for Promoting, Accessing, and Upholding the FOI Act within the Nigeria Context’
In addition, there were plenary and group discussions on: ‘Practical Application of Freedom of Information Act for CSOs/Media: The Right to Ask;’ ‘Tackling the Challenges of Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria’; ‘Producing a position paper or a briefing note;’ ‘Carrying out a media interview’ and ‘Organizing a press conference.’
Observations
After comprehensive discussions of the keynote address and the lead presentations, the participants observed that:
If information is the oxygen of democracy, we find it objectionable that 27 months after the enactment of the FOIA, save for Ekiti State which enacted its FOI Law on 4th July 2011 and is currently in the final stage of passing a more robust amended version, other states in the southwest region i.e. Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Oyo and Lagos are yet to either enact State Level FOI Laws or concretely implement the FOIA.
Many public institutions in the region and across the Federation are yet to deliver on their obligations under the Act, including the all important duty to proactively disclose certain categories of information stipulated under Section 2 (3) of the Act.
There is also persisting low level awareness on the detailed provisions of the legislation amongst public officials and members of the public, which is militating against robust usage of the law by various stakeholders.
We are concerned that despite the plethora of binding judicial decisions from several superior courts of record, including the apex court in the country, which establish amongst others, the legal doctrine of covering the field, while state like Oyo in the region still insist that the FOIA does not apply to them.
Despite the fact that the 7th Assembly of the Lagos State Parliament, recently revived the process of enacting a State level FOI Law, in a process that dates back to the 6th Assembly, we are concerned about reports of what appears to be an official policy that gags public officials in the state from responding to FOI requests received from members of the public.
While the Act requires private institutions, including CSOs providing public services, performing public functions or utilizing public funds to be proactive in their duty of disclosure in accordance with the provisions of FOIA, we are concerned that this is not being done currently, due largely to a lack of proper understanding of the provisions of the Act.
There is growing concern that journalists in some states in the region, especially those in government owned media houses exhibit tendencies depicting bias, partisanship and lack of professionalism in their work, which negatively affects the FOI compliance process, especially since they are major stakeholders in the FOI project in these States.
In consonance with the letters and spirit of the FOIA, it is believed that proactively disclosing publicly details of the agreement reached in 2009 between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government would have gone a long way to compel the Federal Government to comply with the said agreement and avert the current strike action that has resulted in the over two months closure of Federal and State Universities nationwide.
Unless there is a subsisting appeal by the defendants in the case, the continuing disobedience of the order of mandamus made by the Federal High Court on the 10th of July 2013 directing the Clerks of the Senate and House of Representatives to furnish the plaintiff, with the salaries, allowances and Constituency funds of Senator Ehigie Uzamere representing Edo South Senatorial District and the member representing Ovia Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives Nosakhare Osahon, is symptomatic of the culture of gross impunity and flagrant disregard for the rule of law and court orders by public officials which should attract immediate punitive consequences for all such offenders.
Strong concern was expressed by participants on the call by some serving public officials that the FOIA be amended even though empirical evidence shows that the Law has hardly been significantly implemented by all tiers of government in the country.
Resolutions
The workshop also resolved/recommended as follows:
Members of this Network, CSOs and other stakeholders in the region should be mobilised to sustain focused advocacy with the three arms of government in their respective States to ensure compliance with the FOIA and where desired, enactment of the state level FoI Laws that meet the minimum benchmarks established in the FOIA.
Public institutions in the region and the nation at large should, as a matter of urgency put in place the requisite framework and machinery for delivering on their obligations under the Act, including the all important duty to proactively disclose certain categories of information stipulated under Section 2 (3) of the Act.
In line with the provisions of Section 13 of the FOIA, governments in the region should immediately embark on robust capacity building programmes aimed at deepening the understanding of public officials on the provisions of the FOIA. Furthermore, such capacity building and sensitization programs should also be extended to members of the public resident in the region.
Following existing judicial decisions from several superior courts of record, including the apex court in the country, establishing the legal doctrine of ‘covering the field,’ members of the Network call on state governments in the region to as a matter of urgency, uphold these existing judicial precedents by implementing the provisions of the FOIA forthwith in their respective states.
The Network commends the 7th Assembly of the Lagos State Parliament for reviving the process of enacting a State level FOI Law in Lagos State and hopes that the process would be completed speedily. In furtherance to this positive development the Network also calls on the executive arm of government in the state to, as a matter of urgency clarify the allegation making the rounds of the existence of an official policy that prevents public officials in the state from responding to FOI requests received from members of the public. The Network also urges all arms of government in the state to commence the process of putting the requisite machinery in place for promoting the public’s right to know as enshrined in the FOIA.
The Network will partner with other stakeholders in the region to carry out capacity building and sensitization programmes for private institutions, including CSOs who provide public services, perform public functions or utilize public funds to be proactive in their duty of disclosure in accordance with the provisions of FOIA.
Members of the Network will carry out advocacy with journalists in some states in the region, especially those in government owned media houses to be unbiased, non-partisan and professional in their work, which also aids the process of FOI compliance in their respective states.
The Network calls on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government to proactively and urgently disclose publicly details of the agreement reached in 2009 as part of the process of resolving once and for all the issues implicated in the current crises.
There should be immediate punitive consequences for all public officials who disregard court orders enforcing compliance with FOIA.
Participants distance themselves from the call by some serving public officials that the FOIA be amended despite the fact that it has not been substantially implemented in any shape or form. We reiterate that at this point in time, emphasis should be on implementing the FOIA, so that its benefits can be enjoyed by all and sundry, including government itself rather than a premature amendment that does no good to the legislation.
In view of the growing recourse to the courts as the most viable forum for resolving FOIA disputes the Network calls on the National Judicial Institute as a matter of urgency and necessity to organise capacity building training programmes on FOIA for the judiciary at all levels. Furthermore, the Network also urges the judiciary as a key arm of government to immediately kick-start the process of complying with the FOIA in all ramifications.
The Network will seek partnership with the Human Rights Committees of the branches of the Nigeria Bar Associations (NBA) in their respective states to provide pro bono services for resolving FOIA disputes.
Conclusion
The participants appreciate the support provided by the UNDP’s Democratic Governance for Development (DGD-II) and its international partners, the EC, DFID, CIDA to the Southwest FOIA Network for the success of the workshop and calls on them to kindly provide additional support to the Network as it embarks on the process of taking the FOIA implementation campaign in the Southwest zone further.
Signed on behalf of the participating Southwest CSOs:
Ayo Adebusoye ………………………………………………………………………….
Rita Ilevbare ………………………………………………………………………….
Ebofin Michael ………………………………………………………………………….
Gbenga Ganzallo ………………………………………………………………………….
Jide Bamgbose …………………………………………………………………………..
Moji Akinsanya ………………………………………………………………………….
Tola Winjobi ……………………………………………………………………………….(Zonal Coordinator)
As part of a capacity enablement workshop on FOI Act coming off in seven day’s time, explain the planning process of a press conference component of the workshop while you give a practical demonstration of how you are going to deliver the address and field questions from the press. You may organize a mock press conference and inform the plenary what happens after the conference.
PLANNING PROCESS
At the planning process, CSOs will meet to decide the goal and objectives of the press conference
