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Is Nigeria Fit for children and Youth? A need for renewal of Our Commitment
Related to country: Nigeria
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Today Nigeria celebrate it greatest asset: Youth and Children as it mark National Children. As we may all know that in 1990 Nigeria joined it counter part to sign the African Charter which include among other things the protestation of the right of children and youth


In September 2000, Nigeria also joined other nations to signed the 8-Time bound declaration of universal commitment to development known as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Where are we today? Among all the issues affecting the Nation today, children and youth are mostly affected such as poverty, hunger, HIV/AIDS, Climate Change and equality.

As a committed YOUTH DEVELOPEMNT ACTORS, I sincerely encourage that we continue to advocate for the passing of the Child Right Bill which is currently in the House of Assembly.


Let us as,young people come to the realization that to meaningfully participate in planning, developing, and evaluating processes in all decisions pertaining to the welfare of young people is to:

• Be active and knowledgeable participants by informing ourselves about law sconcerning our well being
• Have our voices heard by having representations at appropriate levels of policy making
• Take responsibility for our actions and inactions
• Making improvements by taking result-oriented actions
• Involvement by contributing physically, socially and emotionally at all levels
• Devotion and rendering service
• Be better leaders by listening and sharing the knowledge we have gained


Our Demand
1. Governments to immediately domesticate the March 2007 UN Convention for People with Disabilities, especially Articles 16 and 25 of the convention

2. Transformational programmes for stronger recognition of the importance of SRR among the media, the judiciary, medical fraternity, educational and health authorities, religious and cultural institutions.

3. Donors and development partners to invest in policies and programmes that promote an integrated, comprehensive response to SRHR within and aligned with the Maputo Plan of Action and the MDG’S.

4.Policy makers, public sector, researchers, NGOs, private sector, communities and others to foster partnerships and strengthen collaboration to strengthen advocacy, Programme implementation, research, monitoring and evaluation and resource utilization.

So help us God!!

May 27, 2008 | 2:08 PM Comments  0 comments
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Gender and ICT policy.
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

“The information society cannot be complete without the active engagement and involvement of African women, who play a major role in reaching out and disseminating information to different communities.” Lettie Longwe, WSIS-Gender Caucus Secretariat


In the last decades ICT has become a powerful and widespread communications platform, particularly given the convergence of existing communications media with new communication technologies. ICT can be used to increase access to employment, education or health services; strengthen democracy; improve transparency; provide a platform for diverse voices; and cross-cultural knowledge exchange. The social, political and economic changes wrought by new information and communications technology have prompted certain shifts in development thinking. Development strategists now see, as recognized for example in the UN Millennium Declaration, the need to adapt ICTs as a way to avoid further marginalization, and also as a potential force for creating new economic growth opportunities and for pushing democratic boundaries

The digital divide between the developed and developing world in access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) is the result of various factors beyond infrastructure, including poverty, lack of resources, illiteracy and low levels of education. In many societies women are the most impoverished with the least access to resources and with little control over decisions that affect their lives. For this reason, women are on the wrong side of the digital divide, with limited access to and control over ICTs.

When considering the factors that contribute to these inequalities it is important to understand the ways in which ICTs are allocated between women and men (the gendered allocation of ICTs), the different opportunities that exist for men and women with respect to education, training and skills development, employment and working conditions, content development and access to power structures and decision-making processes.

World secondary school enrolment statistics show that only 11% have achieved gender equality and 51% have a lower enrolment ratio for girls than boys.
In 2003 women earned in formal market on average, 79 -75 per cent of what men earned. Men more likely are hired in regular and better-paid positions, while women are increasingly being hired in peripheral, insecure, less-valued jobs including home-based, casual or temporary work. (ILO, Global Employment trends for women 2004)
The factors listed above influence the fact that the great majority of the world's women have no access to internet or to any other sort of modern communication system, and possibly will not in their lifetime.

But providing women with connectivity is not enough. Beyond questions of access to technology and software, other major concerns must to be addressed such as the need to break down gender and cultural barriers to women’s access to careers in technology, or absence of women in decision-making structures

March 31, 2008 | 2:47 PM Comments  1 comments
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Using ICTs to transform women’s images in conflict situations
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Because women bear the brunt of violent conflicts, they have also been at the forefront of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peace building. They have taken on different initiatives to transform the negative and stereotypical victim image that is often attributed to women caught in violent conflict situations to a positive and empowered image of stakeholders and active participants in the pursuit for just and sustainable peace. However, the idea of using the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) for facilitating dialogues towards peace remains an unpopular concept among women involved in peace activism. This, despite the many examples of how such technologies have been used to support grassroots activism, networking and movement building. For the International Women's Tribune Centre however, our long experience in using ICTs to get women’s voices heard in global policy and decision-making and in translating policy rhetoric into realities at the community level, has taught us that there is more to ICTs than just serving as a cheaper and faster communication vehicle and knowledge source.


In October 2005, on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, a landmark document that marks the first time the UN Security Council addressed the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and recognized their contributions to conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peace-building, we at IWTC launched the Peacebuilding Cyberdialogue in partnership with Isis WICCE. The Peacebuilding Cyberdialogue brought together women peacebuilders from Nepal, the Philippines, Timor Leste, Uganda and Zimbabwe representing 40 women’s organizations through a ‘real time global town hall meeting’ using Internet chat with voice and video/visual contact. It connected women working on peacebuilding and conflict resolution at country and community levels with gender advocates, policy makers and diplomats meeting at the UN, and with women attending the AWID Forum in Bangkok, Thailand. Participants in New York included personnel of the Canadian mission to the UN, women activists from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burma, and USA as well as Rachel Mayanja, the Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. The major thrust of the Peacebuilding Cyberdialogue was women’s efforts to implement the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, as well as the gaps and challenges they confront in working for its full implementation. Rachel Mayanja noted the women's concerns and suggestions and took their messages to the Open Debate of the UN Security Council, which took place immediately following the Peacebuilding Cyberdialogue.

The discussions during the Peacebuilding Cyberdialogue were recorded and edited and were used to produce radio features, public service announcements and radio drama in English, Luganda and Swahili. These radio productions that highlight women’s role in peacebuilding and reconstruction are currently being aired in different radio stations in Uganda and other parts of Africa. The Peacebuilding Cyberdialogue combined the power of the new information and communication technologies and the broad reach of radio to allow women peace activists at the national and community levels to sit at the peace table with policy makers and gender advocates at the international level. At the same time, it allowed for a broader outreach to more women in the communities by way of the radio productions.



The Peacebuilding Cyberdialogue represented an important link in “grounding” the connection between policies proposed at global level and realities confronting women at the local level. It was an effective exercise in making local voices heard in a global space and bringing back that global discussion to make sense at the local level. Moreover, the Peacebuilding Cyberdialogue is an example of innovative usage of ICTs that builds on current efforts in conflict resolution, conflict prevention, and peacebuilding by enhancing channels, and modalities of communication, information dissemination, knowledge sharing, and collective learning in virtual spaces, especially when physical interactions are not possible because of geographical distance, lack of resources, and in certain instances, political sensitivities. It builds on the holistic view of conflict transformation, conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding as complex processes that are founded on the principles of inclusion and effective dialogue which can lead to trust, respect, and mutual acceptance of differences.

Within the broader picture of IWTC’s organizational objectives, the Peacebuilding Cyberdialogue is part of our continuing efforts to develop a core group of community radio broadcasters, print journalists, and other media practitioners who will ensure an on-going flow of information to women at country and community levels regarding the use of a global policy like the SCR 1325 as well as the existence of new legal mechanisms and how they can be used to protect and promote women’s rights.