e-newsletter Democratic Governance for Development Project PROMOTING WOMEN INCLUSIVENESS AT THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL IN THIS EDITION

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1 Democratic Governance for Development Project e-newsletter June Edition, 2012 PROMOTING WOMEN INCLUSIVENESS AT THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL Welcome to the June edition of the Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) project e-newsletter. This edition of the newsletter is focused on promoting women inclusiveness at the Local Government level. Local government has an important role to play in the growth of Nigeria s democratic culture, given its close proximity to citizens. Ensuring that Local Government Councils are run in a democratic manner which allows for women participation is important for rural development. However, the governance process at the local government level in much of the country is challenging. Many local government councils have not had elections for over 5 years. The election process is heavily influenced by the State Executive, and many Councils are being run by caretakers appointed rather than elected. IN THIS EDITION Promoting women inclusiveness at LGA level Interview with Professor Simi Afonja, Executive Director, Centre for Human Development ( CHD) Participant s perspective. DGD is pleased to share some of its recent initiatives to promote women inclusiveness in politics at the LGA level. We look forward to your comments and feedback. 1

2 Democratic Governance for Development Project e-newsletter PROMOTING WOMEN INCLUSIVENESS AT THE LGS LEVEL na t Lessons learned from the less than encouraging numbers of elected women leaders after the 2011 election necessitated DGD s development and implementation of a pilot scheme to build support to women s participation in politics at the local government levels. The objectives of the support were threefold: address low voter engagement with Local Government Area (LGA) elections; encourage the participation of historically marginalized groups such as women in LGA elections and improve the chances of women being elected to public office during the LGA elections in pilot states through advocacy with key political gatekeepers and raising voter acceptance of women candidates qualifications for public leadership. A meeting with community gate keepers in Ise-Orun LGA DGD worked with Legal Awareness for Nigerian Women (LEADS) in Kaduna state, INTERGENDER in Plateau state and Center for Human Development (CHD) in Ekiti state to undertake a set of pilot activities, in a sample of 6 LGAs in each state. Selection of Local Government Areas (LGAs) was influenced by the presence of women aspirants, urban and rural balance. Activities Activities set out to address the low voter engagement with these elections, particularly targeting female voters and the low nomination and election of women candidates. In Plateau State, INTERGENDER and CHD in Ekiti state, set up 6 advocacy teams consisting of influential women and men in 6 pilot LGAs, to lead advocacy visits with key political gatekeepers (including the Governor and political party leaders). Since February 2012, the teams in both states have conducted over 30 meetings with key gatekeepers in their communities, encouraging them to support women s participation in coming elections. Town hall meetings were held in Plateau and Ekiti States. The town hall meetings were designed to provide safe spaces where female aspirants could present their campaign agenda before key target groups such as youth, women, religious leaders and seek their feedback and support. Reports indicate that the activity was considered a useful strategy for women to reach out and dialogue with clear messages to sections of the voting public and advocate for their support. 2

3 The meetings also provided an opportunity for these groups to interrogate the campaign agenda of female aspirants and secure their commitment to advancing the voters interest. Voter education activities conducted in the 3 states sought to increase the turnout of women voters in forthcoming elections. number of groups they turned to for support. All the women aspirants who attended the meetings presented a manifesto and were trained on thinking through how to be accountable to women. Bulk SMS were also used to send positive messages on women s leadership to local residents. In Plateau state, 278 (186 male and 92 female) key political and traditional gatekeepers and stakeholders were reached in the pilot 6 LGAs while the town hall meetings convened in each of the 6 LGAs with women candidates reached a total of 600 men, women and youth. Significantly, 521 Participants (248 males and 273 females) in 6 LGAs have been trained on Voter Education. In Ekiti State, the town hall meetings reached 748 men, women and youth. 16 female aspirants participated in the town hall meetings The project also succeeded in recruiting and building the capacity of 72 male and female advocates on strategies and messages around women s political participation. Sensitization during a house to house visit Some of the promising lessons from the project confirm the power of role modelling in influencing voters opinions about women s suitability for public leadership in Ekiti state, the governor 40% affirmative action policy in favour of women in politics, was often cited by voters as a positive practice to emulate and seemed to generate more support for women s participation. In addition, support to women candidates need to include mentoring of women aspirants to assist them in articulating a development oriented campaign agenda that can be implemented within the existing framework of local government decision and policy making processes, ensuring that their agendas are more realistic and do not give false hope to voters. These 72 advocates successfully in turn engaged 120 political gatekeepers comprising male and female traditional rulers, religious leaders, representatives of artisan groups, traders, politicians, past and present members of the Houses of Assembly, Senate and Local Councils.. Lessons Learned Hitherto, most female aspirants relied principally on patronage and had few skills on campaigning, developing and popularizing a manifesto. The town hall meetings expanded their mobilization strategies and increased the DGD together with partners is collating data on the number of women candidates contesting the LG elections to build up a baseline against which to measure impact of these activities. Lessons learned from the pilot intervention will be documented and shared widely to guide DGD s and other stakeholders future support for women s inclusiveness in politics. 3

4 INTERVIEW The Centre for Human Development (CHD) is a non-- profit organization established in 1996 as a development agency to assist governments, international agencies and local community organizations to develop sustainable development policies and programs. DGD worked with CHD to implement the support to women inclusiveness in local government elections project in Ekiti state. In this interview, Professor Simi Afonja, Executive Director of CHD shares some lessons learned from the project implementation. DGD: CHD has just concluded the impementation of a project focused on women inclusiveness in the local government elections in Ekiti State? What did the project entail? CHD: The project addressed low voter engagement in local government elections and the low participation of women in elected office. The main objective was to improve women s chances in the LGA elections through advocacy with key political gatekeepers and by raising voter acceptance of women candidates qualifications for public leadership. The project started with the identification of six (6) LGAs for the action in Ekiti state. The six selected had been exposed to gender advocacy in previous programs and registered female candidates for the LGA elections. The project was facilitated by CHD staff with the support of twelve (12) advocates made up of male and female members of the community and the youth. These constituted the advocacy committee for each LGA. The LGA advocacy teams held a one day meeting at which the objectives, major activities, methodologies, activities and outcomes were discussed. At the meeting, each LGA team also selected the key political gatekeepers for its LGA, developed its voter education strategies and an action plan. The campaign involved town hall meetings at which the candidates presented their election manifestos, meetings with political gatekeepers, distribution of fliers, house-to-house campaigns, and rallies. DGD: How were your activities received in the towns and villages? CHD: The activities were well received in the towns and villages. It was an opportunity for those who vied for 4. Prof. Simi Afonja, Eexcutive Director, Centre for Human Development (CHD) elective positions to engage the community and receive support and for those who failed at previous elections to reenter the race or support new contestants. The level of participation by women, men and the youth was high. DGD: What did the project achieve? CHD: The project united women across the different political parties because it was presented and organized as a nonpartisan action. It made women realize that increased participation in elective office requires that they act pragmatically by building consensus in support of women s rights without jeopardizing loyalty to their political parties. In addition to strengthening the women s constituency, the candidates developed strategies and acquired the skills for engaging the critical groups in their communities, -the women and the youth groups. Project sustainability was taken seriously. Each LGA took ownership of the project to ensure continuity even after the life of the funded project by setting up committees and fixing monthly meetings. The committees are to plan how to support laudable women who seek elective positions and ensure their accountability to women if they are elected.

5 There were inquiries about how to join political parties and the criteria and process of nomination. We expect an increase in the number of women contesting and the number of those who will succeed in the elections. DGD: How did the Ekiti State Government official policy of 40% affirmative action affect your field activities? CHD: The policy provided an enabling environment for for advocacy for women s leadership and the rejection of cultural stereotypes that usually constrain women from participating in politics. Because reference was always made to effective women leaders in the State such as the First Lady and the Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, it was easier to encourage women to aspire to public leadership and convince the political gatekeepers to support the women s cause. DGD:What were the challenges you encountered in the field and what measures did you take to overcome them? CHD: The initial challenge was to debunk the culturally entrenched belief that women are not fit to venture into politics. This challenge was overcome by inviting prominent and respected female political gate-keepers who had contributed immensely to the development of the communities to the town hall meetings and having them share their views on the subject matter. Many role models across the State were cited. Religious/ Traditional leaders, members of the State and Local governments who are respected were also included as advocates and gate-keepers. The court action that led to the postponement of the elections was another challenge. It came right on the eve of the elections but was advantageous by allowing more time for the campaign. The activities were rescheduled into three phases to reinforce the messages in the communities and complete the project close to the elections. Media coverage was limited because the print and electronic media in the State did not have the manpower and equipment to follow the LGA activities. A jingle was developed and aired on radio and television stations to ensure better coverage. DGD: What are the emerging lessons from the project? CHD: Previous exposure of the LGAs to gender advocacy is important. The advocates are the fulcrum of all activities. They must be gender sensitive, skilled in advocacy and committed to community development and the empowerment of women. Those working for financial incentives only should be avoided. The political gatekeepers must be change agents who belong to a large network that can be mobilized in favor of women. They should be able to influence government and society. Central locations should be used for meetings in the communities to avoid activities being hijacked by a political party. The women advocates, retired and active female politicians are critical to the process of building the women s constituency for women. Government commitment to gender equality and women s empowerment is an important underlying factor. There must be political stability and women aspirants must be engaged in community development prior to contesting. They must be capable of mobilizing their communities and immediate families for support. Their election manifesto must balance the interests of the community and of the women. Radio is an inexpensive mode for state wide communication. The jingles produced should continue to be aired to educate the public as a long term measure. DGD: Now that the project has ended, is CHD putting in place any plan to continue mentoring women candidates? CHD: Yes. CHD is restructuring its office in Ekiti so as to create room for residential/non residential training of the candidates on women in politics and public policy. We will start with the basic rudimentary issues that will assist candidates to prepare manifestos and campaign more effectively. We will continue to support the advocacy teams at the LGA level and scale up the sensitization to affirmative action in the communities. 5

6 PARTICIPANT S PERSPECTIVE First, I must say a big thank you and kudos to the organizers of the project. The project activities were an eye opener to me. As a contestant, I was able to learn how to develop a manifesto and sell my candidacy to political gate keepers in my local government area. Secondly, the program has really improved my ability to mobilize the electorate within my local government. My confidence has increased and l believe I now have the ability to perform and deliver the dividends of democracy to the people in my community. I came to realize that I have to be more focused and this has made me step up increasing awareness about my candidacy and championing an endowment program for women both in my community and in the state. Mrs. Atinuke Bashorun, a beneficiary under the Women participation in the LGA elections project in Ekiti state. I am Mrs. Anthonia Atinuke Bashorun. I am from Emure- Ekiti in Emure Local Government. I am a Vice-Chairmanship aspirant in the forthcoming Local Government election in Ekiti State. I benefited immensely in the DGD/CHD project to support women in politics at the local government level. Finally, there are some challenges I face as a woman. It has not been easy to raise enough funds like my male counterparts. A woman needs money to compete effectively in Nigerian politics. I look forward to the elections with more confidence because the training l received from CHD has gone a long way in preparing me. The DGD project is managed by UNDP with funds from the European Union (EU), UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and UNDP. Produced by the Communication Unit of the Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) Project. Website: toyin.gabriel@undp.org 6