OVER VIEW OF THE INTERVENTIONS OF THE RIVERS STATE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AFFAIRS ON THE NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON  WOMEN PEACE AND SECURITY IN RIVERS STATE FROM 2014 TO 2017, SUBMITTED TO THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WOMEN AFFAIRS AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

SECURITY OVERVIEW OF THE NIGER DELTA

Nigeria is experiencing persistent Violent Conflicts much of this is happening in the Niger delta region of the country. Niger Delta over the years has seen a lot of militancy, kidnapping, Cultism, destruction of oil installations which have impacted on the economic resources of the country. No one can deny the disproportionate impact of conflicts on women and children, the violation of their Rights as it has been noticed all over the world how women and children suffer greatly through deaths, torture, Sexual Crimes, displacements, trafficking, forced pregnancies, HIV/AIDS and a lot more. While Women play negligible part in causing the Regional situations, they pay dearly with their lives, displacement of children and families during conflicts. They are attacked by Militants, Cultists, and even Security operatives as their daily lives and search for livelihood gets interwoven with the architecture of the Region’s crises. In January 2016, the armed group Niger Delta Avengers began attacking and blowing up pipelines and the government responded by significantly increasing military presence in the region, both actions disrupted the daily existence in many communities.

In addition to outright violence, the region is the bedrock of huge instances of environmental pollution and degradation. Living conditions for the vast majority of the population remain precarious. Although the situation today is more peaceful than one year ago due to the ceasefire by militants, fundamental social disruptions are yet to be addressed, and the fear of high levels of violence is always a probability. This situation is complicated by the weakness of State institutions and challenges associated with failure of development efforts to address reoccurring violence in the Niger Delta. Other internal and external forms of violence such as those associated with communal and ethnic disagreements have led to episodic outbreaks of clashes across the Niger Delta. Happening outside the region but impacting on it is the rising tension in the South East from the activities of the secessionist movement IPOB, communal problems associated with herdsmen attacks and politically induced violence associated with inter political party rivalries. In Rivers and Bayelsa States for instance, elections have been a major precipitant of violence, putting peaceful co-existence to test.

Incidentally, with the conflicts witnessed in the Region, National and International attention have not been focused on the level of Human Rights abuses arising from militant and military activities in the region nor are the most vulnerable in these crises such as women and children a focus. Large numbers of women constitute the economic bedrock of their families and communities using traditional sources of livelihood such as fishing, farming and trading to support them. With the violence and conflicts these livelihoods have been affected. The social implications of these distortions include destitution and growing dislocations within families as children resort to various illicit ways to express their grievances amidst the abuse oftentimes inflicted on women.

OVER VIEW AND GENDER SITUATION ANALYSIS OF RIVERS STATE

Over the last decade, Rivers state has experienced some of the worst forms of violent conflicts, environmental disasters and disruption of livelihoods. These have had severe security implications affecting women which go unaddressed. Put in the context of the wider Niger Delta struggle and resultant conflicts arising from resource control and environmental grievances, states such as Rivers State has been at the epicenter of the conflict. Not surprisingly, many of the violent situations that led the Amnesty Declaration by the federal Government of Nigeria under President Musa Yar’Adua’s which was centered around Rivers State opened up gender gaps in the implementation of the Amnesty Programme and over the DDR process  adopted by Nigeria.

The flooding of 2010 also exposed yet another area of gender issues as the linkages to the Internal Displacement of Persons health, sanitation and other gender issues were not considered. So the structuring and of provisions for IDP camps did not include essentials for women and families nor did it anticipate the special attention to prevent Violence Against Women and Girls amongst affected communities.

Current security threats to the state have been more political in nature, hinged on the political dichotomy and divisions within the state. The past re-run elections in Rivers State were greatly militarized within communities and resulted in the proliferation of fire arms with increase in communal unrest. The political associated violence has resulted in more cases of cult violence, kidnapping and other violent crimes which affect the human security of women and girls the most. This prompted the Rivers state Government on the instigation of communities to constitute an amnesty committee on the 17^th of September 2016, with the aim to reduce cult, gangs and militant activities and reduce the trade in arms.

While Rivers State has achieved some noticeable strides in development, sustainable development cannot be achieved without Sustainable Peace, Strong Institutions and Security of all citizens and to achieve this, Gender Equity and Equality must be achieved and included as part of the Developmental Agenda of Rivers State.

The Rivers State Action Plan for the Implementation of the National Action Plan on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women Peace and Security

It is on this premise that the Rivers State ministry of Women Affairs, under the auspices of the Women, Peace and Security Network, Rivers State with Support from the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme and facilitated by Gender and Development Action, adopted the National Action Plan for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 to a State Action Plan (SAP) for Rivers State in 2014. The first generation NAP and SAP were hinged on the principle of the 5 pillars which encourages the full participation of women in Decision Making Processes, Peace Building, Conflict Mitigation and Resolution Processes, the Prosecution of perpetrators of VAWGs, the Promotion of the Rights of Women and Girls through positive perception and believes, the Protection of the Rights of women and girls through Gender Sensitive Legislation and Administration of Justice and the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls.

The first Rivers State Action Plan was developed in 2014, by The Rivers State Ministry of Women Affairs and Gender and Development Action under the auspices of the Women, Peace and Security Network with support from Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme, a DFID funded programme.  This SAP was validated and domiciled in the budget of the Rivers State Ministry of Women Affairs for 2014 to 2017 fiscal years.

THE RIVERS STATE SECOND GENERATION (REVISED) SAP

The Revised SAP was developed after consultative meetings with the South-South Zonal Technical Committee on the Implementation of the UNSCR 1325, constituted by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in December 2016. This was part of the consultative process that led to the development of a South-South Zonal Action Plan (ZAP). The Zonal Action Plan represents a breakdown of NAP priorities concerns in the South-South geo-political Zone. Due to the size and population of Nigeria, the NAP adopted the geo-political and governance structure. The major reason for having the ZAP was to allow for the identification of zonal peculiarities that will determine and shape the respective Action Plans of States within the Zone.

After series of consultations and reflections on lessons learned and gaps identified from the partial-implementation of the first Rivers State Action Plan, The Revised State Action Plan was developed. The new security challenges including Insurgencies, Terrorism, Violent Extremism, Secession Agitations, Electoral Violence and Political Instability and its fallout leading to a heightened insecurity in Rivers State made it imperative to develop the new strategies, aligning with the Revised NAP, which can adequately meet Nigeria’s commitment to implementing the UNSCR 1325. Another Major lesson from the review of the first SAP was the absence of Gender Responsive Budgeting Arrangements. This explains why the Rivers State Ministry of Women Affairs was unable to satisfactorily deliver on the planned activities. In addition, emerging security issues and trends have occasioned the revision of the five pillars of the NAP/SAP to more effectively cater for the interests of Women and Girls in Peace and Security matters.

The Revised NAP/SAP Pillars

• Pillar 1 – Prevention And Disaster Preparedness
• Pillar 2- Participation And Representation
• Pillar 3 – Protection And Prosecution
• Pillar 4 – Post Conflict Reconstruction, Early Recovery And Crisis Management
• Pillar 5 – Partnerships Coordination And Management (Cross- Cutting)

RIVERS STATE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STATE ACTION PLAN ON THE UNSCR 1325

To Ensure Seamless operation and cooperation of bodied within key sectors, a State Technical Committee on the UNSCR 1325 SAP would be established and Chaired by the Rivers State Ministry of Women Affairs.

The Rivers State Technical Committee for the Implementation of the SAP comprises of Key Sectors with professional expertise in each of the 5 core strategic pillars of the SAP. The Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation of the overall implementation of SAP as highlighted in the Fifth Pillar will be done by the Technical Committee, which would hold Quarterly Coordination meetings and Biannual Partnership and Open Day Events on the UNSCR 1325 in Rivers State. Nominees for the Technical Committee include the following 13 Offices;

1. The Rivers State Ministry of Women Affairs
2. Office of the First Lady
3. Office of the Deputy Governor
4. The Rivers State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning
5. The Rivers State Ministry of Health
6. Ministry of Education
7. The Rivers State Ministry of Justice
8. Office of the Governor on Peace and Reconciliation
9. SA to the Governor on SDGs
10. Ministry of Local Government Affairs
11. Ministry of Tradition and Chieftaincy Affairs
12. Ministry of Special Duties/State Emergency Management Agency
13. Gender and Development Action (GADA)
14. The Women, Peace and Security Network, Rivers State (WPSN)

CASES OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS MANAGED BY THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AFFAIRS WITH SUPPORT FROM GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT ACTION, UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY NETWORK FROM DECEMBER 2014 TO JANUARY 2016

Through the joint implementation of the State Action Plan by the Rivers State Ministry of Women Affairs and her CSO partners Gender and Development Action and the Women in Peace and Security Network, a Safe Space for Violence Against Women and Girls was established in 2014 in the Rivers State Ministry of Women Affairs. The Safe Space caters to survivors of VAWGs by giving psychosocial support, legal advice and litigation, mediation, counseling, medical support for special health cases, young and indigent expectant mothers and survivors of physical abuse. The Safe Space also partners with Medicines Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), for confidential comprehensive Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for Rape survivors. A total of 346 cases have been properly managed by the Safe Space since its inception in December 2014.

CASES FROM DECEMBER 2014 TO DECEMBER 2016

Cases from January 2017 to January 2018

CHALLENGES FACED

1. The non domestication of some of the Federal legislations into the state laws, like the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (2015)
2. Lack f capacity for and commitment by the police to investigate and prosecute Violent Crimes perpetrated against Women and Girls (Especially Domestic Violence and Rape)
3. Pressure from the police to settle cases at the police station rather than charging cases to court
4. No budget allocation to the Ministry of Women Affairs for the implementation of the States Action Plan (SAP)
5. Unwillingness of the complainant to continue with the case following intervention of family members or church for settling in the cases of assault and battery which have the tendencies of repeating.
6. Poverty and high illiteracy in women, increasing their vulnerability to violence and increased financial dependency.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. AWARENESS:
   • Violence against women and girls is prevalent in the nation. Public sensitization through the media will be an effective means of encouraging women and girls to be bold for change and speak up against VAWGs

• Sensitization and orientation in primary and secondary schools even in the tertiary institutions in the state is an effective way of eradication any form of violence and discrimination against women and girls.

• The domestications of Federal legislation such as the Violence Against Person (Prohibition) Act, 2015. And the amendment of some laws that discriminate against women. Foster gender sensitive legislations for the reduction of violence a women and girls.

2. SYNERGY AMONGST STATES:
   • The Ministry of Women Affairs can create a link with other states to reduce spouse and child abandonment across states.
   • Women empowerment: enhance the capacity of women to engage in peace building processes
   • A strong partnership and collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and the State Ministries of Women Affairs to holistically tackle Violence Against Women and Girls through the Nationwide campaigns for the adoption, funding and implementation of the NAP, SAP and the VAPP act (2015)

CONCLUSION:  it is important to note the current economic crisis plaguing Nigeria has a very negative impact on women and girls, making them more vulnerable to violence from sexual exploitation, disinheritance, deeper dependency that leads to violence and other forms of economic related violence. Women suffer from disproportionate distribution of State resources and Family and communal wealth, this is why poverty globally wears a feminine face.