Poverty - Still Wearing a Feminine Look

from All Africa

This Day (Lagos)

On October 18, above 1,800,000 Nigerians stood up against poverty, as part of a global call. A record 38 million people worldwide observed the anti-poverty call, eclipsing the 23.5 million figure for 2006. Analysts insist women remain the worst victims of poverty. Abimbola Akosile analyses a key Millennium Development Goal from a local perspective

The 2007 International Poverty Day provided another opportunity to examine the state of poverty and the progress made so far made in efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.

This is more significant as the world crosses the mid-point between September 2000 when 189 world leaders under the United Nations Millennium Summit signed to commit themselves to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015.

The eight goals include halving extreme poverty and hunger, eliminating gender inequality, environmental degradation, and HIV/AIDS; improving access to education, health care and clean water and sanitation; and calls for global partnerships on development.

At a joint conference organised by Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) in collaboration with Oxfam in Abuja as part of activities towards the global Stand-Up against poverty campaign by civil society, an intriguing picture emerged.

The widespread belief is that despite government's efforts under the much-publicised 7-point agenda and the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) the eight Millennium goals are far from being met.

Analysts insist that poverty affects women in a multifaceted way more than men; and that government has largely failed in its poverty reduction efforts.

The stand-up campaign was to compel government to tackle poverty and accelerate economic growth and human development for all, as encapsulated in the MDGs.

Key civil society organisations working on poverty reduction and promoting of women's right used the event to collectively speak out on poverty issues, relate their experiences and build public awareness of the negative and multifaceted impact of poverty on women, including proposing urgent measures necessary to address these challenges.

The organisations include: Women Advocates and Documentation Centre (WARDC), Gender and Development Action (GADA), Women Environmental Programme (WEP), ActionAid Nigeria, Women's Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA), Women's Aid Collective (WACOL) and Oxfam.

Representatives of participating organisations related their experiences on how poverty manifest in the lives of women they work with in such thematic areas as education, environmental and economic rights, violence against women and women's access to justice, political empowerment and legal justice, HIV/AIDS and human right.

Participants noted that poverty is a major obstacle to realisation of women's human rights and one of the most surreptitious forms of violation of such rights. The increasing feminisation of poverty is linked to women's unequal situation in the labour market, their treatment under social welfare systems and their status and power in the family, they said.

They noted that the National Bureau of Statistics estimate that 75% of the 54.4% of Nigeria's 140 million population who live below poverty level, are women, is unsustainable and unacceptable.

In a presentation on 'Women in the Agriculture Sector and Poverty', Oxfam GB's Programme Coordinator, Essential Services and Women in Leadership, Kemi Ndieli, noted that experience has shown that women and children undertake the most tedious, backbreaking work in agricultural production.

Besides, she said they have little or no access to the earnings they contribute to the household. Even the little that women earn go towards the essential needs in the home like food, clothing, shelter, school, health etc.

She added that women suffer more from problems of accessing agricultural support services and inputs such as fertilizer, improved seeds and extension serves. She also identified limited access to credit by women and girls due to formal banking and credit institutions who insists on collateral often not available to women for cultural and legal reasons, as well as the very high interest rates.

Another demonstration of gender inequalities and injustices to women, she said, is in the classification of certain crops as 'women' or 'men' crops in agricultural production and marketing; so called based on the prices they attract.

As such, a crop may 'transit' from a 'women's crop' status to a 'men's crop' when it becomes a 'cash crop'. Women are quickly excluded from such a market and left to the less lucrative crops, Ndieli said.

Also, Executive Director of WARDC, Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, noted that the greatest threat to political empowerment and legal justice for women is poverty, alongside factors such as culture, ideology, pre-determined social roles assigned to women and men and often negative media portrayal of women.

Others are unemployment, illiteracy and limited access to education, the dual burden of domestic task and professional obligation, ignorance, lack of access to information and effects of violence against women.

She disclosed that although the representation of women in the legislative organs of government at state and national levels has improved from about 4% in 2003 to about 9% in 2007, the figure still falls far below the 30% affirmative action, with the result that decisions on how national resources are shared still do not enjoy meaningful input from women.

As a result, gender gaps are visibly widespread in rights, access to and control of resources, in economic opportunities and political voices and access to gender justice within the legal system. The implication of this is that the disparities in rights thus constrain the set of choices available to women in many aspects of life and this profoundly limits their ability to participate in or benefit from development.

Those who spoke at the forum testified and gave statistics on how poverty affect women, where only 34% women as against 66% men access conventional loan facilities.

They also maintained that un-employment, limited access to education, inadequate housing, food, health care, safe and healthy environment, clean water, the dual burden of domestic task and professional obligation, ignorance and lack of access to information, promotes violence against women.

Although Article 43 of the Nigerian Constitution guarantees every Nigerian citizen the right to acquire and own immovable property any where in the country, available records show that over 90% of registered land and property are men (women's access to land is usually through matrimonial or parental affiliation to men).

Out of the estimated 7.3 million Nigerian primary school-aged children who are not in school, 4.3 million (representing 62%) are girls. The national net enrollment ratio is estimated to be 56% for boys and 44% for girls.

Speakers noted that the MDGs sum up the rights, needs and aspirations of women and Nigerian citizens as well. Though global in nature, the goals, they said, embodies the people's day-to-day concerns and the achievement would mark a turning point in the lives of millions of Nigerian women and indeed the whole of Africa who are currently living in extreme poverty.

They therefore proposed a number of policy and programme towards eradication of poverty based on sustained growth, social development, environmental protection and social justice which requires the specific involvement of women in political, economic and social development, as they are strategically placed in families and communities to spread the benefits of poverty reduction initiatives to all.

They called for demonstrated political will by government to commit to and substantially implement the National Poverty Elimination Project, the National Economic and Empowerment Development Strategy and NEEDS 1 & 2, Millennium Development Goals by 2015, with special emphasis in addressing gender dimension of poverty.

Participants sought strategic partnership between government and non-governmental organisations in implementing poverty alleviation initiatives to guarantee impact of the benefits of such initiatives at community levels; and innovative, community driven initiatives that promote women empowerment.

Enforcement of implementation of the policy on gender mainstreaming and development of a monitoring and evaluation system to measure the progress and impact of developments in realisation of the aspirations of Nigeria's National Gender Policy and international regional instruments especially CEDAW and the African Union Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women and the Solemn Declaration on Gender by African Heads of Government were also suggested.

There were calls on all stakeholders to mainstream a gender perspective in all housing, water resource, sanitation and waste management programs and projects; and the creation and funding by governments at all levels of social safety nets for vulnerable women particularly widows, aged and rural women.

Free legal aid services should be provided for women by various tiers of government (LGA/State and the Federal government) in the event of violations of rights and the extension of the mandate of the Legal Aid Council to core interests areas affecting women's access to justice was described as a panacea too.

The Federal Bureau of statistics was enjoined to maintain gender disaggregated data of households and poverty line; and to fast track gender budgeting that focus on economic empowerment of women and addressing inequities.

To the participants, communication of appropriate information through channels acceptable to women is crucial for poverty reduction; while community radio initiatives must be encouraged through public and private partnership.

Government at all levels were called on to give special focus to adult non-formal education and basic education of good quality so that women can benefit from schooling; and to pursue the anti-corruption campaign with more vigour.

No doubt, women focused anti-poverty programmes are the surest ways to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty as they are better placed to spread the effect to children, families, communities, and the country.

It is hoped that in the years ahead, governments, individuals and organisations will ponder these options to help lift Nigerian women out of the doldrums of poverty.

The International poverty Day should not be turned into a hallow ritual, and the fast-approaching terminal date for the realisation of the eight MDGs should serve as a warning to spur quicker action among all stakeholders.

Any effort geared towards making life better for women in Nigeria has a corresponding ripple effect which will in turn ensure better livelihood for the girl-children, youths and other disadvantaged groups. It is a task for all.