Leveraging Media Literacy to Improve Gender Equality in Nigeria

The panel discussion began with an opening speech by the founder of the Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria and the First Lady of Ondo State in Nigeria, Betty Akeredolu. She mentioned the need of more female representation in tech industry in order to bridge both gender and digital gaps. According to her speech, technology has redefined everyday life including employment and job description while she also stated that in the future, 90 percent of work will require information communication technology (ICT). She highlighted gender issues in Nigerian context related to cultural norms and religious beliefs and how ICT can either solve or worsen those problems depending how it is utilized. Thus, it requires deliberate and conscious efforts to make an effective use of media and ICT to promote gender equality.

The panel consisted of four individuals from different backgrounds and having different expertise. Asked how media could be use to promote gender equality, the panelists provided different responses including using social media campaign, providing access and media education to young girls, and producing gender neutral advertisements. Even though the panelists did not really discussed much of Nigerian context-specific innovation and challenges with media literacy, the discussion provided a certain degree of insight of media literacy projects in the country.

When asked about the sustainability strategies, the panelists highlighted the importance of involving community members either through funding or participation. In addition to that, they also mentioned the importance of mentoring and volunteering, training boys and men through gender-neutral programs, changing people's mindsets about gender issues, and creating role models for young girls.

Sustaining Our World: The Need to Empower Indigenous Women Farmers

By Andrea Moran

The March 21st panel at the Salvation Army in NYC.

Passion.
Power.
Potential.
Purpose.

These are the four keys to empowering indigenous women in farming, according to Tee Thompson, a presenter at the "Transforming Indigenous Women Through Agribusiness" event on March 21st, as part of the UN's 61st CWS.

But why farming?

The world's surging population is one reason. By 2030, the UN projects that the world's population will surpass 8.6 billion. (It reached 7 billion in 2011, so we're in for some incredible exponential growth).

Despite the dramatic increase in the world's population, the growth farming sector, as it is, will not be able to keep pace, according to Thompson. To make matters more serious, by 2030, over half the world's populations will live in urban areas. This shift from rural to city life will no doubt impact agriculture, a sector which is already showing a decline in the percentage of world population working in the field, according to the World Bank. 

"Women represent a whole lot of untapped potential," said Esther Ibanga, Founder of the Women Without Walls Initiative, (WWWI). Unfortunately, women in many countries, such as Nigeria, face extreme difficulties in accessing land, equipment, loans, and training to take leadership roles within agriculture. Empowerment and enablement to hold power in this sector is crucial not only for the development of the nation, but to ensure these women can sustain their families and communities with food.

Ibanga applied for a loan in Nigeria, and 4 years later, she said her loan application has not advanced. She said patriarchal and traditional views of women's roles hinder their advancement and involvement in the agriculture sector. Overcoming these attitudes, and allowing women  legal rights to land, training, and loans, is crucial if the nation is to develop and include women within agribusiness.

While humanitarian aid sends food to Africa, Africa already has all the resources and arable land it needs to sustain itself, said Barrister Udy Ubom, a lawyer and panelist. The key is enabling Africa's women to become empowered leaders of their agricultural lands and small farms.

"They don't need food shipped from America. They have land, they have rivers," he said, re-affirming that instead of sending aid money to supply food to Africa, donors should send aid to support women in the above mentioned areas.

Additional Resources:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Article: Levelling the Field: Improving Opportunities for Women Farmers in Africa (World Bank)

An attempt to challenge patriarchy

Development in Practice and Christian Aid Nigeria sponsored an event called “GEADOR: Breaking Down Gendered Barriers in a Patriarchal Society”, an inspiring panel focused on the organizations’ attempts to work together to challenge existing social structures and give voice to women in rural Nigeria, a society where they are traditionally excluded and oppressed.

This approach was called GEADOR (Gender Empowerment And Development Organizing Resource), and worked at local, village levels with both sexes in order to improve gender equity perspectives and empower women in a nation where women constitute merely 6.4-6.9% of the country’s government. These NGOs believed that the key to improving women’s degrading conditions under traditional patriarchy lay in promoting female statuses within Nigerian communities along with encouraging greater contributions of women and girls at all levels of development. 

Specifically, the approach tried to work together in unity with older men, older women, younger boys, and younger girls in order to tackle barriers upholding inequality of opportunity for female achievement such as the absence of women in decision-making positions, the poor accountability of the state to implement and support women’s rights, and underlying traditional customs such as the inability for women to inherit land or property of their own. Such obstacles were self-identified by focus groups separated by age and gender, since it was assumed that such controversial topics would be more easily discussed among peers. Later however, these groups were brought together for an open discussion as a cohesive group in order to analyze participants of all ages and genders in their ability to listen to and accept different perspectives on gender issues and challenge the accepted, yet oppressive, norms of their society. 

These organizations were thrilled to report that open dialogue among village men and women of all ages had positive consequences for the communities in which GEADOR was implemented. Since the approach was put into practice in 2013, more women have been invited by village members and chiefs to participate in community practices and public meetings than ever before. Additionally, threats facing women are increasingly brought up in discussion and are being addressed by the village community, such as the traumatic customary practice of exiling widows for three months following their husband’s passing being reduced to just one week.

 The organizations attribute this monumental success to their realistic approach, such as agreeing to avoid certain “no-go” topics as discussion of women becoming King, or the questioning of non-harmful traditions such as the women offering male guests sacred fruit. This is also helped along with the support offered by community leaders who back the GEADOR programs and volunteer specific male participants from their villages that they believe would best be open to gender equity ideas, and best be willing to share what they have learned with the rest of their community. In this way, GEADOR has allowed NGOs to defiantly create safe spaces for women and girls to capture their voices and build a strong sense of self-esteem in a region where females are often the least seen and the least heard.

Prevention of Child, Early and Forced Marriage 停止童婚，早婚和强迫婚姻

By  赵霞 (Xia Zhao)， 美国里海大学(Lehigh University)

美国东部时间2015年3月13日下午2点30分，来自土耳其，尼日尼亚和肯尼亚的非政府组织代表于纽约亚美尼亚会展中心就童婚，早婚和强迫婚姻问题做了精彩的报告。各国代表分别阐述了本国法律对童婚，早婚和强迫婚姻的定义。

土耳其代表表示，现今，每四位土耳其女性中就有一位是童婚。其原因主要在于经济条件的限制。 作为一个童婚的幸存者，尼日尼亚代表讲道，童婚摧毁了女性的生活。遗憾的是，尼日尼亚童婚很严重，但目前尚无关于早婚的有效数据调查。

最有意义的是，年轻的肯尼亚代表讲述了自己9岁时反抗父亲早婚安排的故事。父亲以两头牛的价格强迫她嫁给他的老朋友。她逃离父亲的安排，跑到十公里以外的学校向老师寻求帮助。后来她努力学习，成为班上最优秀的学生，最后进入大学学习国际政治。此次报告是她在联合国做的第五次演讲，她成为全村人民的骄傲。如今，她回到自己的村庄，讲述教育带给自己和家人的改变。村庄人民以她为典范，改变了将女孩儿贩卖给他人做童养媳的传统，促进了肯尼亚女童教育的发展和女性地位的提升。