PUBLICATIONS
Equal Opportunities Bill |
A bill for a law to establish the Rivers State Gender and Equal Opportunities Commission and to provide for related matters. Proposed by the Women's Voices Network. Read More>> |
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CEDAW
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The United Nations proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and everyone is entitled to rights and freedoms in the Universal Declaration of human rights without any distinction based on sex.
Nigeria is a member of the United Nations and has signed the International convention on human rights. As a party to the Covenants, she must ensure the equal rights of men and women to enjoy all economic, cultural, civic, and political rights.
In spite of the specific instruments adopted by the United Nations to promote equality of men and women, discrimination against women continues to violate the respect for human dignity and equality of rights.
Discrimination against women limits the participation of women in all areas of life in the country on an equal basis with men. This makes it difficult for the family and the country to prosper.
United Nations with Nigeria as a member is convinced that the development of a country, the welfare of the world and the cause of peace needs men and women in equal participation in all fields of life.
Bearing children should not be a basis of treating women differently from men in enjoyment of rights but that bringing up children is a shared responsibility between men and women and society as a whole.
There is the need for change in the traditional role of men and women to achieve full equality between men and women.
Because of these and others, Nigeria joined other countries which have signed this Convention to agree as follows:
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National Gender Policy
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What is the National Gender Policy?
It is a document approved by the Federal government of Nigeria containing its plans towards the equal fair treatment of men and women, its reasons for the plan and what it hopes to achieve.
Why do we need a Gender Policy?
Nigeria needs it if we are to succeed in developing our country and for the development to last from generation to generation. In the history of Nigeria, this fact of treating women equally with men and using it to bring about development has been ignored and that is why Nigeria is not developed.
In present times, this is necessary for planning development. The Millennium development Goal No 3 which is the achievement of gender equality and women empowerment is the one needed to achieve all other MDGs.
S.2 of the Nigerian Constitution contains a rule that women are to be treated in the same fair manner as men. Yet Nigeria falls short of the rule. Men are treated more fairly than men in all areas of life.
S. 43 of the 1979 Constitution allows women and men to own and acquire property, yet in many of our communities when land is shared women are not given, and when fathers die, daughters are barred from inheriting land/property. Read More |
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Optional Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa
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This is a an agreement which describes in detail the rights of women as approved and agreed to by Nigeria to be respected, preserved and promoted in addition to the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
Gender equality which means men and women shall be treated equally is a principle enshrined in the Act that sets up the African Union to which Nigeria is a member country.
To that end, Nigeria agreed to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and to make sure the rights as contained in the Charter are protected.
The African Union members including Nigeria recognise that women play a very important role in the preservation of African values based on equality, peace, freedom, dignity, justice, solidarity and democracy.
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Nkoyo Toyo -
GADA's Founder &
First Executive Director
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