Project
Accountability for Change (A4E) Project
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Amount Funded
49,390 EUROProject Duration
20 Sep 2022 - 30 Jun 2024 -
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Lead organisation
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The Mothers and Marginalised Advocacy Centre (MAMA Centre) is a Non-Governmental, non-profit making, non-partisan organisation established in 2014. The Organisation engages government on legislative and policy advocacy to eliminate threats to the socio-economic and political status of the marginalised groups and advance their socio-economic and political rights towards self-determination, self-reliance and self-sustenance in Nigeria. Through its engagement strategies—advocacy, capacity building, research and networking, the organisation works to ensure full participation and partnership of women and men in productive and reproductive life, including shared responsibilities for the care and nurturing of children and maintenance of the household. The organisation empowers women to receive formal education in showcasing their knowledge, abilities and coping mechanisms to attain healthy and fulfilling lives. Through regular field-based research and fact-findings, MAMA Centre creates socio-economic empowerment platforms that enable women to innovatively improve on the existing income-generating activities, save more money, develop financial literacy, and diversify in other income-generating activities. In addition to increasing women’s access to financial services, the organisation prioritises skills learning and capacity building, self-esteem, increasing access to information and resources, and promoting collective action among women in community associations.
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Organisation
The Mothers and Marginalised Advocacy Centre (MAMA Centre) is a Non-Governmental, non-profit making, non-partisan organisation established in 2014. The Organisation engages government on legislative and policy advocacy to eliminate threats to the socio-economic and political status of the marginalised groups and advance their socio-economic and political rights towards self-determination, self-reliance and self-sustenance in Nigeria. Through its engagement strategies—advocacy, capacity building, research and networking, the organisation works to ensure full participation and partnership of women and men in productive and reproductive life, including shared responsibilities for the care and nurturing of children and maintenance of the household. The organisation empowers women to receive formal education in showcasing their knowledge, abilities and coping mechanisms to attain healthy and fulfilling lives. Through regular field-based research and fact-findings, MAMA Centre creates socio-economic empowerment platforms that enable women to innovatively improve on the existing income-generating activities, save more money, develop financial literacy, and diversify in other income-generating activities. In addition to increasing women’s access to financial services, the organisation prioritises skills learning and capacity building, self-esteem, increasing access to information and resources, and promoting collective action among women in community associations.
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Project
In 2018, MAMA Centre with support from Voice Nigeria implemented an empowerment Project called EMPOWER, which was initiated by Amachala-Ngwo women rightsholders. The aim of the project was to strengthen the rightsholders capacity to advocate to their state government for social amenities that will impact positively on their livelihood, specifically palm oil processing machine. The advocacy was highly impactful, so much so that other neighboring communities started seeking support from MAMA Centre.
This year, the women from Udi Local Government Area approached MAMA Centre for similar intervention. That they are indigenous farmers, who derive most of their income from the sale of farm products. However, the roads leading from their villages to markets and to other neighboring towns like Ekeani Enugu village via Etiti via Amachala via Umuase to Nsude mission market to Orieagu and Nkwoagu markets are unmotorable. The state government during the past administration awarded contracts to build the linking roads for ease of movement from the hinterland to the cities so that smallholder farmers will have means of transporting their goods to improve incomes. For lack of access roads, the women farmers earn very little for their hard work, most of the perishable items spoil from lack of storage facilities or lack of buyers and access roads to transport goods to cities where they can get value for their money. There is serious lack of accountability in monitoring contracts and this has been the bane of community development and employment opportunities for young people.
The Accountability for Change (A4E) Project, is an advocacy Project designed by rightsholders in Udi LGA who desire assistance in the area of capacity strengthening to demand accountability from government on abandoned livelihood projects that would have improved their economic activities in Udi Local government area of Enugu state. The goal of the Project is that government completes abandoned roads to improve rightsholders livelihood.
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In 2018, MAMA Centre with support from Voice Nigeria implemented an empowerment Project called EMPOWER, which was initiated by Amachala-Ngwo women rightsholders. The aim of the project was to strengthen the rightsholders capacity to advocate to their state government for social amenities that will impact positively on their livelihood, specifically palm oil processing machine. The advocacy was highly impactful, so much so that other neighboring communities started seeking support from MAMA Centre.
This year, the women from Udi Local Government Area approached MAMA Centre for similar intervention. That they are indigenous farmers, who derive most of their income from the sale of farm products. However, the roads leading from their villages to markets and to other neighboring towns like Ekeani Enugu village via Etiti via Amachala via Umuase to Nsude mission market to Orieagu and Nkwoagu markets are unmotorable. The state government during the past administration awarded contracts to build the linking roads for ease of movement from the hinterland to the cities so that smallholder farmers will have means of transporting their goods to improve incomes. For lack of access roads, the women farmers earn very little for their hard work, most of the perishable items spoil from lack of storage facilities or lack of buyers and access roads to transport goods to cities where they can get value for their money. There is serious lack of accountability in monitoring contracts and this has been the bane of community development and employment opportunities for young people.
The Accountability for Change (A4E) Project, is an advocacy Project designed by rightsholders in Udi LGA who desire assistance in the area of capacity strengthening to demand accountability from government on abandoned livelihood projects that would have improved their economic activities in Udi Local government area of Enugu state. The goal of the Project is that government completes abandoned roads to improve rightsholders livelihood.
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In 2022, MAMA Centre was approached by rightsholders, about 200 community women, led by our previous rightsholder, Mrs. Grace Okwor, in Udi Local Government in Enugu state. Their mission was for MAMA Centre to help advocate to their government to construct roads that had been abandoned by previous administrations, that lead to their farmland. Apparently the dilapidated roads affected their livelihoods in that as small holder female farmers, who produce perishable goods, they were unable to make more profits because of their inability to move their wares to the big cities due to the bad roads. We leveraged Oxfam/Voice Nigeria call for proposal (Empowerment acceleration), to highlight these issues and subsequently secured the grant. The principle of Now Us was very evident in the way we worked with the rightsholders. We enhanced the rightsholders advocacy skills through capacity building, then conducted influencer/power mapping with them to know the most influential people in their communities they could leverage to secure their advocacy asks. After these, we worked with them to fine-tune sets of activities that would enhance their advocacy with timelines and worked with them to follow through with the activities.
The project took off during the on-boarding of elected representatives at both state and national assemblies, as well as the governors. We were sceptical about how things would go since the state had new officials, after the general elections. However, to our utmost delight, the rightsholders’ advocacy efforts were well received by the very eager and newly appointed Speaker and state house of assembly legislators and Local Government Chairman, so much so that they called for more of such organized efforts from women in other local governments to demand for social amenities from the government. They also, made serious commitments during the interactions.
Within a few months of the advocacy interventions between our rightsholders and the legislators, the road in Obinagu Udi was constructed. Another road, was graded, awaiting construction. It just kept getting better! Our rightsholders, on their own met with a senator representing their constituency who encouraged them to form cooperatives which he helped them to register. They now have 20 cooperatives comprising of 30 women per ward. To us at MAMA Centre, this is a huge success. The rightsholders also advocated for a new market at 9th Mile Udi, a very busy and bustling space for business, to be allocated to them to expand their market and the LGA Chairman promised them this. Our rightsholders are better off because of the Voice Nigeria project! One of our rightsholders also won the 2024 Female Food Hero Award! We are so very proud and delighted that one of us has brought light to their community.
The major challenge we encountered was insecurity. The implementation happened at a time when ‘sit at home’ and kidnapping was on the increase. This could have been a major risk factor but for the fact that our rightsholders were on ground, taking charge of the implementation and they already were familiar with these issues and knew exactly how to work around them to still be able to carry out the proposed activities. Another risk was the general elections which happened before the implementation began. We knew the success of the Project depended on it, but we were pleasantly surprised at how the elected officials received our rightsholders and responded to their demands on time. The major lesson learnt is the power of rural advocacy empowerment. When a community is empowered with advocacy skills, regardless of the challenges or risks they face, they must find a way, just as water finds its way.