Support Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill: Sign The Petition

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Bill of Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (African Union Protocol) affirm the principle of non-discrimination and proclaim that all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights, and that everyone is entitled to all the rights set out without distinction of any kind including distinction based on sex. The Affirmative Action Initiative for Women (NCAA) recognises this need and remains unwavering in its aspiration to ensure the elimination of all forms of discrimination on the basis of sex and gender in private and public spaces.

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NCAA recognises the fact that the first step to achieving this in Nigeria is to put in place the legal framework to support the aspiration. In pursuance of this agenda, the NCAA put together the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill (GEOB) which seeks to incorporate into national and state laws the provisions of the CEDAW, the African Union Protocol on the Rights of women in Africa and National Gender Policy (NGP).

The Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill (GEOB) sets out to achieve the following:

  1. Prohibition of discrimination against any person on the ground of gender, age or disability or by any law, regulation, custom and practice.
  2. Promotion of the equality, full development and advancement of all persons.
  3. Adoption of temporary special measures to eliminate discrimination such as the reservation of a minimum of 35% of seats in elected and appointive positions for women; in the case of educational placement and school enrollment, including award of scholarships, bursaries, reservation of a minimum of 50% for women.
  4. Modification of socio-cultural practices with a view to eliminate gender stereotyping, prejudices, and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of sexes, or the roles for men and women.
  5. Elimination of discrimination in political and public life.
  6. Elimination of discrimination in the fields of education, employment and health.
  7. Elimination of discrimination on ground of marital status and economic grounds.
  8. Promotion of rights of persons in rural communities; rights to confer citizenship and choose indigeneship and identity.
  9. Prohibition of violence against women and promotion of equality in matters relating to marriage and family relations.

Over the years, NCAA in collaboration with the Global Fund for Women, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and Ipas has made remarkable progress in this direction. The bill has been passed in Imo, Anambra (not yet assented to), Kogi, Ekiti and Plateau states.

The Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill (GEOB) is still pending in Lagos, Edo, Ebonyi, Rivers, Enugu and Kaduna states. It is also pending at the National Assembly.

This petition is a clarion call on all stakeholders – Religious and Traditional Leaders, women’s groups, CSOs, Legislators and other policy makers to support the GEO bill.

Please add your voice to the campaign for the passage of the GEO bill by signing this petition.

Click to add your voice: http://chn.ge/1OgNTGt

Thanks in advance for your support.