mrs uwais -kano_discussion_on_women_and_youth.ppt

8/2/2019 Mrs Uwais -Kano_Discussion_on_Women_and_Youth.ppt

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Poverty, Youth and WomenEmpowerment and

Entrepreneurial DevelopmentMaryam Uwais

24th May, 2011


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Discussion around

Identifying key issues affecting youth,women and children, including keystrategies for dealing with these.

Identifying and developingentrepreneurial skills in povertyreduction and economic empowerment


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Human Empowerment

Scope

Pro-poor policies

Youth unemployment; almajirai & yandaba Women

Children

Child Protection Law Substantive justice

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Human Empowerment- Issues High rates of unemployment (approx 60%)

37% of population have no formal schooling; 47% illiteracy rate;Nig needs to create at least 25 million jobs in the next 10 years, toaccommodate new entrants and also halve existing

unemployment. Insufficient support for the unemployed and

vulnerable population (children, rural women,youth, physically and mentally challenged etc).

Demographic indices indicate an army of almajiraiand yandaba of restless working age; loomingcrisis in less than 10 years.

Drugs.

High incidence of poverty, especially in the ruralareas.

64% living under $1 a day 4


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Human Empowerment; Pro-poor- Policy Recommendations Community driven development approach whereby the communitiesare empowered to plan, design and implement their own projects,

thereby engendering ownership of the process. Projects must beself-sustaining and beneficial to the community.

Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs): revamping the existingNAPEP/WB collaboration whereby cash transfers are remitted totargeted vulnerable groups on conditions that they send their wardsto school and regularly patronize health facilities, after conductinghousehold surveys in communities to determine beneficiaries. Thisshould be in partnership with CSOs.

Develop cottage industries with one product from each of the 44

LGAs within a determined period, with SMEDAN as vehicle, orutilizing the services of a poverty reduction Team with focus onempowerment.

Revival of/enhancing the Kano State Industrial Development Centerto nurture and coordinate entrepreneurship by SMEs in the variousLGAS, with a view to establishing skill acquisition centres in each of

the LGAs.5


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Human Empowerment- Policy Recommendations

Increase access of poor people to quality socialservices and essential infrastructure to increase theirhuman capital and their contribution to the growth ofthe economy.

A fund dedicated to scaling up youth employment in,

by the provision of skills and vocations such as sports,creativity and diverse targeted areas, utilizing existingor creating centers in the various LGAs

Set practicable targets and goals, with measurableindicators and deadlines for attainment.

Certification by Ministry of Commerce and unions toensure basic standards, thereby enhancingprofessionalism amongst vocations such as artisans,etc.

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Aims

Focus on productivity and the real growth sector innurturing skill acquisition, with the unique sellingpoint of the product being the outcome.

It is necessary to:

Change the perception that the acquiring ofnumeracy and skills/vocations, especially bywomen, are against our faith;

Redress the myth that defines success only by

certain faiths, professions, vocations, dignity inlabour;

Inculcate values, hard work on the basis of meritbeing rewarded;

Change the practice of selection in processes


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For the youth

Address drugs (yandaba) and the resistance to westerneducation (almajirai).

Rehabilitation Centre, partner with a well known andexperienced international Institution that has trainedprofessionals, as well as opportunities for learning after

rehab;For almajirai:

Coopt the services of religious leaders to devise strategies onhow best to introduce numeracy, skills, etc, with Islamiceducation;

Having determined the particulars, (e.g numbers, ages,interests, etc) of the children create several outlets in thevarious LGAs to take on the responsibility of inculcating

values and self esteem, vocational and skill acquisition forthe wards;

Provide opportunities for the Mallams to be gainfully


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Youth and women

It is also necessary to evolve an entire chain for developingcapabilities across systems in the context of our culture andrealities. The private sector, with support from theGovernment, should drive the process.

The chain should aim at: planning and coordinating from entry, retention and completion

rates in schools; getting children off to the right start; Determining job relevant skills appropriate for Kano and its

environs;

focus on improving learning in the direction of job-relevant skills;

The provision of incentives for motivation, innovation, creativityand entrepreneurship in the carefully selected fields;

Matching interests and capability with the jobs available;

Governments facilitation in terms of resources, on terms thatwould encourage responsibility and an outcome of self relianceand independence;

Governments assurance for the purchase/buyers of the ultimateproducts that are the outcome of the process.


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Retraining and Up-skilling

Many of our existing workers suffer fromthe legacy of a failed educational systemso remedial action needs to be taken toensure a change in mind sets, retraining,delivery & efficiency. In this regard,government should create avenues fortraining and enhancing development,including: Internships

Secondments

Mentorship

Cross-industry collaboration


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To begin with, establish a teamto Conduct research in each of the LGAs with a view todetermining the resources available in each location.

Approach each ward head to engage the community with aview to compiling a register of almajirai/yandaba in theircommunity to enable proper planning.

Tracing the parents and guardians of the almajirai with a view

to convincing them of the need for integrating them in anemerging society.

An assessment of the available and profitable skills andvocations, as well as matching them the interests of the targetgroups, to ensure sustainability.

Drawing up incentives to motivate and sustain the determined

initiative in each of the locations. Penalties for drop outs,rewards for persistence and completion.

Commence the programs with sufficient resources and inpartnership with the CSOs, inserting milestones forreassessment, as the process progresses.


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Key issues, in general

Address hawking; impose sanctions in accordancewith the law.

Address transportation/pollution; motobike/kekenapep. Draw up attractive terms for alternatives to

motorbikes. Engage Ulama with a view to ensuring contextual

rulings and interpretations, hold regularconsultative fora with various groups to dispelrumours and keep everyone abreast of the

Governments good intentions. Create youth vocational and women skill

acquisition centres in various localities, providingthem with avenues for recreation, sports, creativity,etc;

Provide family life and HIV education (FLHE) forprimary, secondary and tertiary education


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Women

Sustainability of programs, by linking thesewomen buyers/end users of their outcome.

Target the more influential women(gatekeepers) in our LGAs and communitiesand then work through them to reach out toother women for sustenance.

Create an avenue for encouraging thehusbands to support initiatives to enhancethe conditions of their wives and their

families; Identify women role models in the

communities and even in the city, and createavenues for them to mentor the girl childwithin their jurisdictions. Introduce a program

for mentoring in schools.


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Critical Success Factors

Focused, committed and stablegovernance and the institutionalframework to ensure sustainability,efficiency and the close monitoring of

projects from onset to outcome.

Demand-side participation in thedevelopment of programs ensuring thesuccessful implementation of targetedprojects and quick win interventions inthe selected spheres.

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How?

Establishment of a Team for Social Policy, with a competentChair, to coordinate interventions and the agencies that relate tosocial policy in a comprehensive, informed and efficient manner.

Mandate would include:

focus on the tripod of education, health and empowerment ina holistic manner;

Determining credible partners (donor agencies, individuals,CSOs) and working out the strategies and the framework withthem, ab initio.

pursuing quick win pro-poor policies, with women and youthinterventions, without delay;

coordinating the activities of all related agencies and LGAs,

oversight functions and supervision, reducing overlap in thesystem;

Monitoring the services delivered by the agencies and bodiesunder supervision, thereby taking the necessary steps toensure efficiency & transparency in the system;

Enhancing training, competence and capacity at all levels.

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Key Recommendations

The Team will oversee social policy; shouldmeet regularly and consistently to consider, finetune and implement select interventions, aswell as flag areas performing poorly, address

gaps and redress causes. Focus to be on monitoring the services

delivered by the agencies and bodies undersupervision, engaging the communities, the

gatekeepers, CSOs, LGAs and the relevantMinistries, including taking the necessary stepsto ensure efficiency & transparency in theprocess.

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Political will is key

Understand and identify the context, nature andinterests of the various groups and the resourcesavailable; strengthen basic infrastructure, investin education (including skills and vocations),enable access to small business training,

resources and the necessary finance and mostimportantly, ensure transparency in the system,thereby engendering confidence in the entireprocess.

While expertise is important, the interventions

need to be grounded in societal needs and thecultural context of the reforms. Without thecontext, the programs may be frustrated ormanipulated by those who profit from maintainingthe status quo. It is therefore necessary toidentify those who would sway crowds and workthrough them, for success.


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Persist

On a larger scale, government shouldwork towards uninterrupted power supplyto develop public/private partnerships formass employment.

The larger picture, however, is that theKano State Government should worktowards engaging other Northern State

Governments, as many of the challengescan only be confronted on a sustainedbasis where there is collaboration acrossState borders.


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Islamic Law and ChildProtectionIslam recognizes the need forspecial protection to be accorded tochildren due to their vulnerability.The Quran describes children as

the comfort of our eyes, while

several verses and traditions (of theProphet) remind parents andguardians of their responsibilitytowards children.


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Rights that have been identified as belonging

to the child in the context of the Quran and the

Hadith, by Omran A R, in Family Planning inthe Legacy of Islam, 1992, include;

The rights to genetic purity, to life, to legitimacy

and a good name, to breastfeeding, shelter,maintenance and support (including healthcareand nutrition), to future security, religioustraining and good upbringing, education

(irrespective of gender and other factors),training in sports and self defence, to equitabletreatment, and to the fact that all funds utilizedin their support derive only from legitimatesources.


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Furthermore, Article 7 (a) of the OICDeclaration of Human Rights in Islam

specifically provides that: As of the moment of birth, every

child has rights due from theparents, society and the State tobe accorded proper nursing,

education and material, hygienicand moral care. Both the fetusand the mother must be accorded

special care.


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The Child Rights Act Nigerias Child Rights Act protects the child and

promotes its rights in various dimensions. The principle of the best interests of the child

remains paramount (as it is under Islamic law)and the right to survival, protection,development and participation are highlighted.

There are ample provisions for theestablishment of a fair and just administration of

justice system that takes into cognizance thespecial needs of children in conflict with the law,as well as the nature of institutions that need tobe established to ensure the wellbeing of

children in every jurisdiction.


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Finally, the Act mandates the establishment

of the Child Rights Implementation

Committees at the State and LocalGovernment levels to ensure the effectiveimplementation of the provisions of the Lawin all spheres of governance.

Perhaps because the very idea of childrenhaving rights is alien to many in our diversecultures, it has been suggested that the law

could be easily titled, Child Protection Law,which idea of protection for the morevulnerable cuts across all faiths and culturesin Nigeria.


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Pegging the MarriageableAge

The most contentious issue arising from the contents ofthe 2003 Child Rights Act is the feasibility, or otherwise, ofpegging the marriageable age for the female gender by theGovernment. This appears to offend the culture thatprevails in many communities of Northern Nigeria underwhich young girls are married off at ages between 9 and16 years.

Upon a careful study of the position in Islamic Law,however, it is clear that this culture is one of the many

inconsistencies that abound. There is certainly nocategorical statement under the Sharia that a female mustbe married off even after the attainment of puberty, and theemphasis on the pursuit of education seems to be more

pronounced, than marriage (which becomes imperativeonly in the event that the person is incapable of remaining


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It should be noted that in the

determination of a girls preparedness

for marriage in our jurisdictions, onlythe physical aspects of puberty areconsidered the major consideration,even though the Sharia also makes

the fact of mental maturity animportant factor. Advocates of earlymarriage in our communities believethat a girl who appears to bephysically mature is ripe for marriage,with no thought being given to hermental capacity or appreciation of the

responsibilities that marriage entails.


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It is important to clarify that what is advocated

for is not that the permitted (by God) shouldbe rendered prohibited. In the development of

the Shariah, it is permissible for the State toadopt a policy to prevent harm in the society,under the Doctrine of public interest(maslaha) or that of encouraging good andpreventing harm (hisbah).

Generally, the importance of family and theprotection of the institution of marriage iswell-established under Islamic Law. Thereexists abounding evidence in Islamic history,of the practical demonstration by the Prophetand the early Caliphs, that it is the Statesduty to protect and support the family andespecially its more vulnerable members.


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Since it is the State, as the ultimate guardian of all, that is

responsible for protecting and promoting childrens rights,

surely the time has arrived for the State Governments todetermine a particular age as the age of responsibility,

especially in view of the tragedy of the VVF and unfortunateimplications of numerous emerging child mothers in ourvarious jurisdictions, as a developing society.

Young girls are ill-prepared for motherhood; their childrensuffer, they are helpless when it comes to running their

homes and even the economy is impacted negatively, wherepotential contributors to its growth are excluded from theopportunities of enhancing the development of theirimmediate surroundings due to early marriage. Surely, intodays context, enabling the girl child to attain her fullest

potential has assumed fard ain dimensions. Our Scholars should be the first to recognize that protecting

the more vulnerable from harm is mandatory under theShari'a, as existing social conditions do merit the governmentpegging a minimum age for marriage.


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Moreover, because the Quran itself

does not specifically prescribe any

specific age, or even the onset ofpuberty, for the host of rights itconceives as belonging to the child, itis difficult to understand how pegging

the minimum marriageable age at anagreed age (by which age it could besafely concluded that the secondimportant requirement of mentalmaturity in Islam would have beenfulfilled) would offend the Sharia or thespirit of Islam.


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Indeed, were the fixing of a minimum

marriageable age against the preceptsof the Shari'a, many Shari'a-practicingcountries would not have dared to doso in their own jurisdictions.

It is therefore clearly not un-Islamic fora government to fix a minimummarriageable age in the publicinterest, even under the Sharia.


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The attitude of contemporary Islamicjurists to innovations such as these is that

nothing should stand in the way of theiradoption if they are useful to humansociety, prevent harm, encourage good

and do not conflict with fundamentalprinciples or direct commands in theQuran or the Hadith. On this particular

issue, no categorical age has been stated,and puberty, (which would include mentaland physical maturity), is made thebenchmark for marriage.


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Indeed, before Jigawa State enacted

the Law in its jurisdiction, it engaged

the services of experts to ensurecompliance with Islam, which modifiedcopy was finally approved by the

Government of that State. The issues that were highlighted, such

as adoption, etc, were adjusted to

reflect the position of Islam on suchmatters, and that document isavailable for consideration andadoption in Kano State.


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It is time that our own religious leaders, child

psychologists, traditional rulers, doctors andmen of relevant expertise in this field cometogether to determine the minimum age formarriage for our own young girls, in theinterests of our families, the immediateenvironment and our societies. This is to

enable them garner some measure ofeducation and thus some competence tocope with the challenges of marriage. Thesechallenges are not solely related to her

physical appearance, but also include hermental preparedness. Bringing up children intodays world would necessarily entail someknowledge and exposure, which young girlsare completely unaware of, if married off tooearly.


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Conscientious research in the sphere of the

development of the Shari'a over the years

demonstrate that rules of Islamic jurisprudenceactually do encourage interpretations that promotethe benevolent nature of Islam, especially where themeasure for such interpretations is commensuratewith the prevalent needs of social justice and thewell-being of humankind.

Shari'a remains a relevant, dynamic concept thatdevelops and adapts to the basic conditions and

circumstances of any given situation, especially withthe utilization by our scholars, of the secondary orsubsidiary sources of Islamic Law such as theDoctrines of Maslahah (public benefit for the

prevention of harm) and Dharurah (the necessitywhich renders the rohibited ermissible .


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Contemporary Islamic jurists and

scholars in Kano need to engaged andencouraged to adopt andaccommodate a complementaryapproach to achieve the nobleobjective of enhancing human dignity

in contextual rulings, irrespective offlimsy distractions and allegations thathuman rights norms are a conspiracyagainst religious values. Muslims must

begin to view and understandinternational human rights norms asendemic in and complementary to

Islamic principles.


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We must not lose sight of the overall

objective and purpose of the Shari'a,which are the promotion of human welfareand the prevention of harm. This must bekept in mind always, in our efforts atunderstanding and the implementation of

the Shari'a. Muslims must remain faithful to the true,

original Islamic heritage, for Shari'astands for substantive justice. Mostimportantly, we must acknowledge that itscompatibility with human rights normsbecomes especially more visible in the

area of the protection and promotion of

I d d id i h d f


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Indeed, considering the antecedents ofIslamic history and the foregoing arguments,it would certainly be ironical and atrocious

were the incompatibility with Islamicprecepts argument to be used as the excusefor not passing the provisions of the Law inKano State. Not doing so leaves our childrenexposed to the peculiar knowledge, whimsand caprices of the Qadi who is seized of thematter in question. The provisions of theChild Rights Act must be viewed from thisperspective, as the overall objectives of the

Shari'a, the verses in the Quran and thetraditions reflected in the Hadith amply justifyand support the contents of the Law, in trueessence.


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Status of the Passage of the Childs

Rights Laws in Nigeria

Rivers

EkitiOsun

LagosOgun

Oyo

Delta

Bayelsa

Ondo Edo

Kogi

Sokoto

Niger

Kwara

Kebbi

Kaduna

Zamfara

Adamawa

AbiaImo

AnambraEnugu

CrossRiver

Akwa Ibom

Ebonyi

Benue

Taraba

Jigawa

FCT, AbujaNassarawa

Katsina

Kano

Gombe

Plateau

Bauchi

YobeBorno

States without the CRL

States that have passed

the CRL


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Protection and substantivejustice Finally, our Ulama should be engaged to

preach about and establish regulationsagainst the wanton abuse, by men, of theright to divorce, which recklessness is

completely at variance with the spirit andletter of the Quran. The flippant manner inwhich women are divorced only leads to theneglect and maltreatment of the children thatare the products of these unions. Our justiceactors must be properly advised as to theimplications of these incidents, while custody,maintenance, compensation, etc, must beassured and awarded, as commanded by

Allah.


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Thank you.

It will definitely NOT be easy, butleadership never is. At the end of theday, the legacy should be one that

clearly demonstrates the willingness,determination and the successesachieved in making a positive impact

in the lives of the ordinary man andwoman of Kano State.

May Allah be your Guide, amen.

mrs uwais -kano_discussion_on_women_and_youth.ppt

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