Women Ask for Rights by Law

A NATIONAL coalition to promote the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has called on the Nigerian government to domesticate CEDAW in accordance with international obligations.

The group comprising members of the Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC), Coalition of Eastern NGOs (CENGOS) and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), also called on the government to establish special measures to ensure the promulgation of appropriate laws; support the efforts through regulations and policies that will ensure the availability of and access to positions of leadership for women in Nigeria.

In the Abuja Declaration on Affirmative Action for Increased Women’s Political Participation in Nigeria released at the Commonwealth People’s Forum, the group urged the government to provide a minimum of 30 per cent of the seats to women in elective and appointed positions in all government bodies.

The coalition is also calling on the government and civil society to take action and strengthen programmes and networking opportunities to provide affirmative action for women at all levels of representation in the country.
It noted that the numbers of women in governmental decision-making positions at all levels fall far short of the desired requirement for equality between the genders in Nigeria.