The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD)/ Partnership for Advocacy and Civic Empowerment (PACE) Working Group on Gender met in Lagos on 1^st August 2003. The Working Group on Gender is one of the working groups set up to increase the engagement of civil society organisations in constitutional reform to advocate for a comprehensive review of the 1999 Constitution. The other working groups are those on socio-economic rights, citizenship, fiscal federalism, independent commission, security, and national conference.

• There is the need to restructure power relations in Nigeria in such a way that would guarantee the fundamental human rights of women through constitutionalism.

• For Nigerian women to fully realise their potential, much work needs to be done in addition to reviewing and restructuring the 1999 Constitution particularly in creating the enabling environment in which policies and institutional mechanisms can be developed to allow women to have access to decision making structures.

• Women make up at least 50 percent of Nigerian population, and they spend many productive hours caring for the sick including those living with HIV/AIDS and doing domestic work, which is neither paid for nor captured in macroeconomic analysis.

• It is bad economics to ignore issues of welfare, access, control and participation of women in decision-making.

• Women have been discriminated against in governance and decision-making processes and access to economic and social rights.

• The 1999 Constitution was flawed in the process of its making, the language and content, especially with respect to the issues and concerns of women.

• An acceptance by all stakeholders (Government, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), community based organizations, the disabled, women, men, youth, etc.) on the desirability of an inclusive constitution is critical to the success of the constitution review process.

• There is inadequate coordination of the efforts of civil society, the Executive and National Legislature in the 1999 Constitutional Reform process.

• There is no timeframe identified for the review of the 1999 Constitution and the enactment of a new constitution.

• Marginalized groups – women, youth and children and the disabled – have deliberately not been encouraged to participate in the constitution review process.

• The adoption of gender sensitive constitutions in Eritrea, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda has enhanced growth, sustainable development and equitable distribution of resources in these countries.

 

• Civil society organisations should intensify advocacy for civic education and gender sensitivity in the curriculum of schools.

• CSOs should mobilise the public and create awareness on the process of the review of the constitution and the content of the constitution.

• CSOs should devise adequate advocacy strategies to bring about a gender sensitive constitution. The strategies should include sensitisation/enlightenment, training of CSOs and legislators and lobbying of the executive and legislature.

• The National Assembly should domesticate all international instruments that guarantee women’s rights such as the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

• The language of the constitution should be modified to be gender-sensitive or neutral depending on the context.

• The language of the constitution should be simple, such that everyone will understand its contents.

• The constitution should be translated into such Nigerian languages as are demanded by those who speak them.

• The Motto of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should be amended to read "Unity and Faith, Equality, Justice, Peace and Progress" – {Section 15 (1)}.

• Section 29 (4) (b), which states that, "any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age" negates the rights of the girl child and should be expunged from the constitution.

• Section 37 should be amended to include 18 years as minimum age for marriage.

• Marital status should be included wherever other parameters of discrimination are listed in the constitution.

• The constitution should include residency rights/obligations for persons that have lived in a state for a specific number of years to be determined by each state.

• Section 29 should be amended to guarantee the right to confer Nigerian citizenship on foreign spouses to both women and men.

• The Constitution should create an Equal Opportunities and Social Justice Commission to replace the Federal Character Commission. The membership of the commission should reflect gender balance and other diversities such as age, disability, ethnicity, marital status and religion.

• A definition of discrimination as given below should be added to Section 318 (Interpretation, Citation and Commencement) of the 1999 Constitution: "Discrimination is the denial of legal or national rights based on sex, religion, race, ethnicity, age, marital status, political opinion or affiliation and place of origin".

• The Constitution should entrench affirmative action of a minimum 30% as stipulated in the Beijing Platform for Action to redress the gender imbalances in all political appointments.

• The Government should incorporate a gender perspective to national budgeting to ensure that women’s concerns are adequately addressed and funded.

• There should be a review of the school curricula to make them gender sensitive.

• The review of the 1999 Constitution should be concluded before 2005 so that the new constitution will become operative in 2007.

Mr. Otive Igbuzor  Programme Co-ordinator	Ms Amina Salihu Working Group Leader CDD Gender
Ms Ezinne Ekekwe Member of Working Group	Mr. Lanre Arogundade Member of Working Group