by FIDA

BlogNovember 7, 20220 comments

Call for Expression of Interest To Develop A Violence Against Women In Elections Assessment Report

Introduction

The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of over 4,000 female lawyers with several years’ experience in utilizing the law to address social problems in Nigeria. The organization’s mandate is the enhancement, promotion, protection and preservation of the rights and welfare of women and children in Nigeria. FIDA Nigeria implements key projects and activities aimed at providing access to justice to indigent persons, particularly women and children.

Background

Women constitute a powerful electorate with millions of votes. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigerian women signaled their intention to make their voices heard in the 2019 election, accounting for about 47.14 per cent (39,598,645 million) of the 84,004.084 million registered voters nationwide. In 2015, three million, six hundred and sixty-seven thousand, and seventy-six (3,667,076) housewives voted in the presidential election, placing next to students (4,480,708) and civil servants (4,628,433). Similarly, housewives rank third on the list of registered voters by group in the 2019 election. They represented 14.10 per cent of the total registered voters by group, next to farmers/fishers (16.23 per cent) and students (26.57 per cent). This figure does not include the millions of women across the various other groups

However, inspite of this progress recorded, Women’s participation in the elective positions has been minimal and has multi-dimensional implications for the democratic project in Nigeria and for the continuing quest for gender equality in Africa’s biggest economy. The 2019 elections was the sixth consecutive general elections since the beginning of the fourth republic in 1999. This marks what is undoubtedly a measure of democratic progress, if only for conducting periodic elections since the return to civil rule. What remains deeply in doubt, however, is how inclusive this progress has been and, in particular, to what extent women have benefited from the democratic dividend of equality and fairness. With gender issues and women’s political and economic empowerment taking center stage on the global arena, Nigeria appears intent on maintaining its position at the bottom of the ladder of women’s political empowerment. Recent data indicates that women’s rates of participation in formal decision making remain one of the lowest on the continent and across the world with women occupying an abysmal 5.6 per cent (86 out of 1534) of all elective positions at both the national and subnational levels.

Essential to women participation is the eradication of political violence, in other words, it is of paramount importance to condense political violence before and after elections so that women can fully participate in elections. In the same degree The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) states that, elections have triggered outbreaks of violence in which women and girls were victimized. In others instances violence against women has been a tool of political harassment and intimidation of female election candidates. In addition, female voters continue to be disproportionately affected by various forms of election-related violence or threats of violence which has the effect of keeping them away from the polling stations more than male voters.

Purpose of Consultancy

As the countdown to 2023 General Elections emerges, The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria with support from UNWomen will undertake an assessment of all forms of violence perpetrated against women ahead of the 2023 General Elections which may deter the participation of women. This assessment through the deployment of a standardized field instrument known as the VAWE tool to measure safety and security threats against women pre and post elections will be conducted across four focal states namely Kwara (North Central), Borno (North East), Plateau (North Central) and Kaduna (North West). Based on the above, FIDA Nigeria is seeking to engage a consultant to analyse the findings from this survey and develop a VAWE assessment report for each of the four focal states which will be used as an advocacy tool to existent peace-building architectures in the focal states towards creating a peaceful environment to enable women participation in the general elections and serve as a catalyst towards providing enabling strategies for advanced women political participation.

Duties and Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be tasked to  analyse the findings generated from the field work and develop a VAWE Assessment report for each focal state which will be used to support peace building architectures.   

Review and Validation of the Report

In collaboration with the Project Team, the Programme Manager shall review and validate all contents of the report. The report developed must be delivered to the National Programme Manager on a date not later than the deadline for submission via email on fidanigeria@yahoo.com.

Requirements

The applicant should be a national or international educational, research, think-tank, NGO or any relevant organization with the required expertise

Duration

The assignment is for a period of four weeks from the date of signing the contract.

Fees

The fees for this assignment is subject to negotiation with the selected individual.

How to apply

Qualified candidates should send curriculum vitae and cover letter detailing relevant experiences to the addressed to the Country Vice-President/National President to hr@fida.org.ng or   fidanigeria@yahoo.com

Subject of e-mail should be “Application for Consultancy to develop a training Manual”

Deadline: Applications should be submitted on or before 15^th November 2022.