This will be publicly presented to candidates contesting for different positions in the 2023 general elections for signing, endorsement and adoption.
A coalition of Nigerian women, youths and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) has developed an initiative tagged the Governance Agenda for an Inclusive Nigeria (GAIN).
This will be publicly presented to candidates contesting for different positions in the 2023 general elections for signing, endorsement and adoption.
The coalition in the GAIN initiative highlights inclusive policy priorities for leading candidates of political parties toward the 2023 general elections.
The coalition said it is joining forces under the GAIN to foster inclusive representation and socio-economic standards in the political process by ensuring elected officials fulfil election commitments after the 2023 general elections.
The GAIN initiative is said to be promoted by a coalition of civil society organizations including Women in Politics Forum (WIPF), Youth Hub Africa (YHA), Inclusive Friends Association (IFA), and Association of Nigerian Women Business Network (ANWBN) with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
The aforementioned civil society organisations on behalf of women, youths, and persons with disabilities (PWDs) have been leading advocacy engagements to key national and state-level stakeholders toward inclusive governance and democracy in Nigeria.
The coalition disclosed that GAIN document will be publicly presented to leading national and state-level candidates in the 2023 elections and the Nigerian public to request candidates to adopt the priorities of Nigerian women, youths, and PWDs as contained in GAIN.
According to the coalition, the public presentation will formally flag off a nationwide advocacy for presidential, National Assembly and governorship candidates to endorse, adopt and sign on to GAIN commitment slips.
“The adoption or otherwise of the GAIN document by candidates in the 2023 elections will shape the voting pattern of millions of women, youth, and PWDs. These groups of Nigerians are already being mobilized across the country to hold candidates accountable on the GAIN when elected into office. Nigeria’s women, youth, and PWDs have great expectations that candidates interested in delivering inclusive governance will commit to the GAIN recommendations,” the coalition said in a statement.
According to the Team Lead of WIPF, Ebere Ifendu, “The public presentation of a cohesive agenda that emphasizes the representation of marginalized groups such as women, youth, and PWDs is long overdue and now is the time for leading candidates in the 2023 general elections to actively support and publicly prioritize the needs of marginalized groups such as including them more in decision-making processes, curtailing discrimination practices against them and improving their quality of life, more broadly.”
The coalition further explained that GAIN is made up of recommendations from different groups including rural market women, the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), 100 Women Lobby Group, Women in Politics Forum, the Women Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (WOWICAN), and the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN).
Other groups whose recommendations were featured in GAIN include members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), youths and PWDs-focused Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), the leadership of disability clusters in Nigeria, and the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD).