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BOOK PRESENTATION
ON MOBILE TELEPHONY At the HBF
office, 11am-1pm In collaboration with the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Centre for Policy and Development (PolDec) published a compilation of reports, essays, analysis, interviews, research findings, testimonials and success stories by individuals, organizations and communities on “Mobile Telephony: Leveraging Strengths and Opportunities for Socio-Economic Transformation in Nigeria”. The book appraises the evolution of mobile telephony services in Nigeria, with emphasis on the transformational impact of these services on livelihoods and social interactions in rural communities. It equally documents the catalytic effect of mobile telephony operations and services on the Nigerian economy. The completed research indicates that mobile telephony serves as a vehicle for rural development and socio-economic transformation particularly in rural Nigeria. Beyond enhancing communication, mobile telephony can be a tool in the hands of development partners in Nigeria for the speedy realization of the millennium development goals.
"SAME SEX MARRIAGE PROHIBITION BILL" At the
HBF Office, 10:00AM In February 2006, the Minister for Internal Affairs introduced the notion on National Television that the Federal Government of Nigeria was about to present a bill banning same sex marriage in Nigeria in December 2005, obviously in reaction to a gay event that took place at the International AIDS Conference in Abuja on 30th March 2006, the draft bill was introduced to the National House of Assembly by the President who asked the House to expedite action on the process of passing the bill into law. Besides being "unnecessary" in a technical and legal sense (because homosexual relationships are already regarded as a criminal offence in Nigeria), the proposed bill goes far beyond banning same sex marriages. If passed, it would breach the freedom to expression, assembly, association and conscience, and it endangers the right to privacy and conscience protected by the UN and African Union human rights treaties. Advocacy on the issues of homosexuality and provision of sustenance to individuals or groups identified (or just alleged) as homosexuals would become criminal offences. With this, in the current socio-political climate of Nigeria, the bill could open avenues to all kinds of intimidation based on rumor-mongering, in the public as well as the private sphere. A second reading of the bill took place in April. Since then, we have witnessed a range of conservative and ill-informed media reports and comments of the issues. At this time, it appears unclear whether a public hearing would be held at all before the bill is presented for the third and final reading. In response to the debate and to create an in-road for civil society intervention from an informed point of view, HBF is organizing a roundtable to analyze this bill as well as to create an opportunity to enlighten civil society organizations. We hope that this can help to bring about a more liberal and objective approach to the issues in question. Participation by invitation: Please contact HBF Office in Lagos, 01-472 1465 or info@boellnigeria.org
4TH WORLD WATER FORUM FEEDBACK SESSION HBF Office, 10:00 The 4th World Water Forum held in Mexico City, from 16-22 March 2006 provided an opportunity for multi-stakeholder participation and dialogue to influence water policy-making at national, regional and global levels, in order to achieve sustainable development. The Forum's main theme was "Local actions for a global challenge". Participants at the Water Forum in Mexico - Anthony Akpan (PAVE), Babalobi Babalope (Bread of Life Development Foundation), and Adewale Agbojo (HBF) - will report back from the event. Individuals and groups with an interest in water policy issues, especially in the Lagos area, are invited to this feedback session.
HBF Office, 11:00AM Most people would agree that
cybercrime has eaten deep into the fabric of Nigerian society. It is common
to hear about the "Nigerian scam" - a phrase that derives its existence from
the assumption that all (or conservatively, most) scam eMails originate from
Nigeria, or Nigerians. In response to this menace, the Federal Government
established a cybercrime working group in 2004 for the purpose of aiding Nigeria's
demystification and tackling of the hydra-headed monster: cybercrime. The
inter-agency working group produced the Computer Security and Critical Information
Infrastructure Protection Bill 2005, which comes with the promise of addressing
this ill.
GOPP TRAINING HBF Office
HBF Office 11:00-15:30,
GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN NIGERIA HBF Office10:00-14:00,
In Nigeria, the "language of gender" is widely used today, especially in development and NGO circles. However, gender mainstreaming -- as a concept and instrument guiding and supporting political and administrative action -- is much less developed, even though it may be accepted in principle, or rhetorically at least. In the meantime, while gender mainstreaming is successfully applied in many places, providing gender awareness, expertise, and rules of action, limitations of the concept have become obvious as well. In a recent paper (attached), Barbara Unmüßig (member of the executive board of Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin) identifies several such limitations, namely: Gender mainstreaming focuses largely on institutions. Its success depends much on organizational culture and bureaucratic procedure. At times, institutions have re-defined the original feminist agenda behind gender mainstreaming, for example the World Bank, by making "the gender case for business" in pursuit of a neo-liberal agenda. By being based in, and focused on institutions, gender mainstreaming decisively depends on institutional capacity. But in many parts of the world, we cannot take institutions (especially state institutions) for granted. Institutions may lack democratic legitimacy or accountability; their capacity to provide gender-disaggregated data and to implement policies accordingly may be low. In practice, the highly technical character of gender mainstreaming has led to a degree of separation between "gender specialists" on the one hand, and the ("grassroots") feminist/women's rights movements that formed its original constituency on the other. Such separation risks weakening the political foundation of demands for gender mainstreaming; it may also erode the financial and institutional support for women's rights organisations and their work. The Heinrich Böll Foundation's Lagos office wants to use the opportunity of its executive board member Barbara Unmüßig's visit to this country for a critical review of the state and prospects of gender mainstreaming in Nigeria. It appears high time to take stock of the experiences made so far. The roundtable intends to review the Nigerian experience made with gender mainstreaming in government institutions (for example, the Ogun State Gender Mainstreaming Bill) gender mainstreaming as aspect of civil society / NGO work (for example, the Gender Budgeting Network) gender awareness and gender mainstreaming in the private sector (for example, experiences of female business professionals) Participants to the roundtable are drawn from civil society, government, business, and the media. |
FRIDAY 27 OCTOBER, 2006