Aan report 2015b

ANNUAL REPORT2015

Contents

1. Message from Country Director/Board Chair

2. Our Vision, Mission Values

3. Our Country Strategy Paper At A Glance

4. Our Theory Of Change

5. Our Programmes/People We Work With

6. Achievement By Strategic Objectives

7. Objective 1

8. Story Of Change

9. Objective 2

10. Story Of Change

11. Objective 3

12. Story Of Change

13. Objective 4

14. Story Of Change

15. Finance Report

16. List of Partners

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T he country in the first quarter of the year experienced tense moments due to the heat up of the environment by

politicians. Apart from the tension generated by politicians during the electoral process, distraction from critical socio-political issues as a result of post-election diversions by the tardiness of new government in constituting a cabinet characterised most part of the second and third quarter of the year. In spite of the listless environment imposed, we found space for policy influencing and active citizens’ engagement.

The year 2015 was a year of great expectation for many Nigerians in spite of the political climate. The first quarter was characterised by tension generated by politicians during the electoral process. We also experienced distractions from critical socio-political issues as a result of post-election diversions by the tardiness of the new government in constituting a cabinet. In spite of the listless environment we found space for policy influencing and active citizens’ engagement.

As would be expected in an election year, many of our planned activities, especially within the period leading to the elections were affected by political activities going on in the states, making us to adopt creative approaches in implementing our activities. As a human rights and anti- poverty organisation that adopts the rights based approach to programming we were also faced with situations where comments were easily given tendentious colourations and alternate views deliberately classified or in some instance misconstrued as opposition views.

Navigating though such intense political terrain in the early part of the year required more tact than we had ever had to apply in the past. The post-election period also required a different sensitivity and caution in engaging with a rapidly changing political environment which required building new relationships and trust. We however chose to see not just the challenges in this seemingly unfriendly environment, but new windows for interventions on with and on behalf of the citizens, especially the poor. The year 2015 turned out to be one of the best for us in policy intervention and influencing. We were able to engage with people in position of power who can make a difference in the lives of poor people, engaged with decision makers and rallied people to make their voice heard.

Citizens’ empowerment and ensuring they have strengthened voices during the electoral process was a priority. We worked with other organisations in the six geo-political zones of the country to build capacity of citizens to voice their opinion and set agenda for politicians seeking their votes was a major focus. Our voter education manual and the development of community development charter called The Village Book became valued and valuable facilities for citizens-politicians engagements.

Our women rights work in the year prioritised promoting increased participation of women and girls in decision making spaces and processes. We also trained our eyes on enhancing capacity of women to demand for fair economic alternatives and livelihood. Our call for recognition of women unpaid

Message from Country Director and Board Chair

The year 2015 was a year of great expectation for many Nigerians in spite of the political climate and unsure steps of the new government.

ActionAid Annual Report 20154

care works continued to be a major area of collaboration between us and the federal ministry of women affairs while we celebrated with the rest of progressive minded compatriots the passage of the prohibition of violence against persons bill into and an act of the parliament and was also assented to by the president.

We extended our intervention in issues of internally displaced person in the year beyond policy works to getting actively involved in works that bring direct succour to the affected. Our presence in the North East states of Adamawa, Borno and Gombe has given more insight into the challenges and the needs of the internally displaced persons in the North Eastern part of the country than any other intervention project have done. We have also gone steps ahead in being actively involved in the provision of required supports. Our unique approach in targeting female headed households in various internally displaced persons camps as beneficiaries of our interventions ensured that

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we reached the most vulnerable people.

Our campaigns got a boost in 2015 as our public promotion of progressive resource mobilisation and utilisation through Tax Power campaign became more popular and the Tax Justice & Governance platform became the leading force in the movement for progressive taxation in the country. Safe Cities for women and girls campaign also took a more central position with its formal launch in Nigeria.

In spite of the challenges posed by a highly partisan political space and slow take off of new government in the country, in 2015, we made substantive progress in the efforts at intervening in the issues that are of paramount interest to Nigerians. We commend our staff, collaborators, the donor agencies and our board and general assembly members who have been part of the 2015 efforts and the wins.î

OUR VISIONA world without poverty and injustice in which every person enjoys his or her right to life with dignity.

OUR MISSIONTo work in solidarity with the poor and excluded people to eradicate poverty and injustice.

OUR VALUESWe are driven by passionate commitment to organisational values. These values define our work and relationship with our communities, partners and other stakeholders.

Mutual respect, requiring us to recognise the innate worth of all people and the value of diversity.

Equity and justice, requiring us to work to ensure equal opportunity to everyone, irrespective of race, age, gender, sexual orientation, HIV status, colour, class, ethnicity, disability, location and religion.

Honesty and transparency, being accountable at all levels for the effectiveness of our actions and open in our judgements and communications with others.

Solidarity with the poor, powerless and excluded will be the only bias in our commitment to the fight against poverty.

Courage of conviction, requiring us to be creative and radical, bold and innovative – without fear of failure – in pursuit of making the greatest possible impact on the causes of poverty.

Independence from any religious or political party affiliation.

Humility in presentation and behaviour, recognising that we are part of a wider alliance against poverty and injustice

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Our Country Strategy Paper at a glance

2015 marked the second year of implementing our 2014 – 2018 Country Strategy, Take Action: End Poverty. Our current strategy, a product of wide consultation with our stakeholders, is a reflection of the challenges of poverty and exclusion in Nigeria. It further builds on learning from our 13 years of programming and field experiences. Drawing from the prevailing context and realities of the poor and excluded in Nigeria, it acts as a guide on how we work, who we work with, and our commitment to our theory of change.

With this strategy we are moving beyond intervening in the issues of the poor and socially disadvantaged, to working with the people and their agencies to influence government policies. This strategy is geared towards inclusive participation of people in ending poverty.

Thus, our strategy is focused on:

• Strengthening people’s capacity for action to hold government and corporates to account and enhance people’s access to quality services.

• Advancing the rights of women and girls, including promotion of their safety and participation in public and private spaces.

• Advancing the rights of children and supporting young people in undertaking just, democratic and inclusive development initiatives.

• Enhancing human security and livelihood in the face of conflicts and natural disasters.

To ensure effective implementation and delivery of our strategy, the following priorities were identified:

• Investment in staff capacity to achieve the requisite skills mix.

• Strengthening internal governance structures to provide strategic and effective oversight

• Strengthening systems and enhancing synergy for quality programme delivery.

• Increasing a secure resource base with the right funding mix and flexibility.

In tracking our progress, 21 major outcomes were identified to serve as markers. These strategic objectives and outcomes, vis-à-vis the dynamics of our environment, guide our work each year.

Our 2014 – 2018 Country Strategy, Take Action: End Poverty, can be accessed at http://www.actionaid.org/nigeria/publications/aan-csp-2014-2018


Key achievements in 2015The consequences of a general election holding this year required drawing lessons from the past and ensuring that our programming was proactive, strategic and broad-based. Accordingly, we prioritised building the capacity of citizens AAN – especially women, youth and persons with disability ― to participate in the electoral process and hold duty bearers to account.

• Throughout the six geo-political zones of the country, specifically in 42 LGAs across 10 states, we engaged with a varied mix of stakeholders, including community representatives, CSOs, political party operators, government officials and religious leaders, to build collective commitment towards credible and peaceful elections.

• Meanwhile, even as the electioneering season was on, the insurgency in the North-East persisted. This had a negative impact on the citizens in the region, leading to denial of access to some fundamental rights such as access to basic healthcare.

• Women and girls particularly became more prone to Sexual Gender Based Violence.To ameliorate the situation, our intervention led to a number of positive changes, including 734 persons (602 males and 132 females) acquiring improved skills to provide health-related services in humanitarian settings in three North-East states, namely: Adamawa, Borno and Gombe.

• Also worthy of note, 740 Military and Para-military personnel (615 males and 125 females) acquired skills to respond appropriately to Sexual Gender Based Violence.

• Moreover, we are pleased to report that this year, as we continued advancing the rights of women and girls, some women in Akwa Ibom and Ebonyi are working together to challenge violations of their rights violations and demand restitution. An example that speaks to this trend is that of the women in Ediene Attai, Akwa Ibom State, who self-mobilised to challenge the take-over of their women skill acquisition centre by community leaders. This led to the centre being returned to the women for their use.

• Additionally, our work on advancing the rights of the girl-child contributed to the creation of 20 Girls Clubs in 20 schools in Sokoto State, leading to an increase in enrolment and retention of girls in the state. It has been established that girls who participated in these clubs also became more confident, performed better in exams and are better equipped to remain longer in school, thus helping in delaying early marriage.

• This demonstrates just how impactful people can be when they Take Action!


STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1:Strengthen people’s action to hold governments and corporates accountable and enhance people’s access to quality services

• In 2015, a deliberate approach was taken to work with people, coalitions, people’s platforms and movement to hold corporates and government accountable. Additionally, we aimed to ensure citizen’s rights to quality services and promote inclusive and participatory governance. Despite high hopes for rebirth of the nation, governance was on recess for most part of the year, with limited citizens’ participation.

• Strengthening citizens’ voices in the electoral process became a priority for us as we engaged with people in the six geo-political zones of the country. This led to building capacity for engagement with the electoral process and enhanced citizens’ participation, especially women, youth and persons with disability. Consequently, we focused on

public finance, federal public administration reform, budget advocacy, policy analysis, and probed into the connectivity between poverty and corruption.

• All of these interventions were implemented with active involvement of people, agencies of civil society and in relevant instances with the active collaboration of government institutions. We moved from the era of focusing on building the rights awareness and capacity building of citizens for engagement and making demands on government alone, to improving our interaction with public officials and institutions that are responsible for the management of public affairs, facilities and responding to the aspirations of the citizens.


• Policy influencing was prioritised through proactive engagement with the transition committee of the new government. As a means of ensuring that government is abreast of reality of both citizens’ needs and aspirations, evidence-based advocacy for policy change and mobilisation of citizens, especially women, girls and youth to demand for policy reforms in gender responsive public service provision and in revenue mobilisation, especially tax was adopted.

Public finance, Economic justice and reform in public administration

• Citizens were empowered with knowledge and skills, using the same to influence public finance process in Nigeria through participation in budget planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting, as evidenced in Kogi state.

• Developed a medium term road map and action plan for greater impact of applied budget work which is in place for use in advocacy.

• Citizens and groups, including the Federal Civil Service Union, raised issues of civil service reforms, high cost of governance and policy analysis aimed at improving public finance management in Nigeria.

• 12 state government directors and 6 CSO staff aware and skilled on participatory budgeting and utilising such skills.

• 20 CSOs skilled on zero-based budgeting and engaging government on budgeting issues following the training organised by ActionAid.

• Triggered discourse on accountability and the roles of citizens in the agenda of the new government. Public presentations of Pioneer Status to Companies in Nigeria and the West Africa Giveaway reports prompted the Executive and National

Assembly querying the processes of granting incentives to multinationals, with the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) probing the pioneer status negotiations by a coordinating government agency.

• Worked with relevant government ministries to scale-up care and support services for orphans and vulnerable children in Benue, Kogi, Edo, and Nasarawa states and the FCT resulting in improvement of the wellbeing of 263,086 Vulnerable Children (VC) and 36,136 caregivers.

• Copies of policy brief (1,500) and report of study (2,000) into relationship between poverty and corruption in circulation amongst ministers, top government officials, legislatures, academics, anti-corruption agencies, police, CSOs and labour centres. This has impacted on decision making process at both legislative and executive levels.

Citizens’ empowerment and participation in governance

• 8,135 persons across 180 communities provided space and voice for better participation in governance of their communities in the documentation and needs assessments conducted through Community Development Charter process and activating such opportunities.

• 898 persons (women, men, youth and persons with disability - PWDs) engaged public officials on diverse issues of governance through town hall meetings organised by ActionAid.

• Governance programming institutionalised in media stations as a result of the SCEEP project with BBC Media Action thus expanding knowledge of and citizens’ participation in governance.

• 3,071 community representatives, CSOs and other stakeholders including political


parties, state and non-state officials engaged on platforms, which built commitment towards credible and peaceful elections across 42 LGAs in 10 states.

• 19,604 persons mobilised across the states to participate in the 2015 general elections.

• 5,065 youth in 3 states and the FCT raising issues on gender-responsive public service, safe environment for women and girls and reform of tax administration system in the country.î


STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2:Advance the rights of women and girls, promote their safety and participation in public and private space

O ur actions on the advancement of the right of women and girls focused on contributing policy influencing , and

actions that eliminate harmful practices and violence against women. We also committed to increasing participation of women and girls in decision making spaces and processes, as well as enhancing the capacity of women to demand for fair economic alternatives and livelihoods.

A key highlight of 2015 was the signing into law, at the Federal level, of the Violence against Person’s Prohibition (VAPP) Act by former President Goodluck Jonathan. The VAPP provides a legislative and legal framework for the prevention of all forms of violence, seeking to eliminate violence in private and public life and provide maximum protection and effective remedies for survivors

of violence, and punishment of offenders. The passage of this Act was championed by the Legislative Advocacy Coalition on Violence against Women (LACVAW), a coalition in which ActionAid Nigeria is a strategic member. In particular, we contributed to the initial drafting and reviewing of the bill, and participated in various public hearings on the bill, as well as media broadcasts and debates around the bill.

Women empowerment, solidarity and collective actions

• 4,820 women and girls were directly mobilised for actualisation of their rights across 5 states – Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara – and the FCT, through our women Peer Education Programme,


women cooperative groups, and Girls Clubs in schools.

• Women have emerged in community leadership, such as in traditional cabinets in Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi and Kogi states.

• Women in Akwa Ibom and Ebonyi are working together to challenge their rights violations and demand access to community facilities. For instance, women in Ediene Attai, Akwa Ibom state self-mobilised to challenge the take-over of their women skill acquisition centre by community leaders, leading to the centre being returned to the women for their use.

• In conjunction with 10 communities from Kogi, Delta, Kaduna and Ebonyi states, and the FCT, we adopted the community paralegal justice system, setting up functional community based structures to address Harmful Traditional Practices (HTP) and Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG). These structures, by the end of 2015, had settled some cases of HTP across the five states.

• 12 male champions who promote the rights of women and girls have emerged in 4 highly patriarchal communities in Akwa Ibom and Kogi states. It was with the support of the male champions that the women in Osara community in Kogi state, for instance, were able to get land from the community for their cooperative weaving business.

Income generating activities

• Training of 360 women in 5 states – Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara – and the FCT, on income generating activities, including financial literacy and management, and supporting them to set up income generating businesses as cooperatives. These businesses include shea butter processing and packaging, weaving, renting of chairs and canopies for events, piggery, palm kernel harvesting and storage, as well as buying and selling of grains.

• Profits from these ventures are now ploughed back to expand the businesses, as well as used to improve the living conditions of women and their children. In particular, support provided by these women from the profit of their businesses, in the form of school uniforms, notebooks, and school levies for their children, has led to the retention of 1,095 girls in schools across 12 communities in Ebonyi, Kwara, Kebbi states, and the FCT.

Promoting girls’ education

• Our work on advancing the rights of the girl-child contributed to the creation of 20 Girls Clubs in 20 schools in Sokoto State, leading to the increase in enrolment and retention of girls in the state.

• The Girls Clubs established and trained by ActionAid Nigeria now take independent actions around girls’ education, including the mapping of out of school children (especially girls) and linking them to relevant authorities in Sokoto State who have ensured their return to school.

• Girls who participate in these clubs also become more confident, perform better in exams and are better equipped to remain longer in school, thus contributing in delaying early marriage.

• We also organised a conference on social protection for the girl-child in Nigeria, which led to the launch of the Network on Social Protection of the Girl-Child, a platform aimed at reducing early marriage, by promoting rights in school for girls.

Our work with women farmers

This year, our work with women farmers and their groups on sustainable livelihoods and rights, prioritised budget analysis and monitoring, supporting women’s land rights, and promoting climate resilient and sustainable agricultural practices.


• Smallholder women farmers were trained and mentored on network and coalition building, and policy advocacy. For instance smallholder farmers in Ebonyi State were mobilised resulting in the formation of the Ebonyi State Chapter of Smallholder Women Farmers Network (SWOFON). This has helped in strengthening the linkage of smallholder women farmer issues across local, state, national and continental levels.

• A national forum for smallholder women farmers with representatives from 27 states in the country was organised, where the simplified version of the UN Voluntary Guidelines on Land Rights was launched and disseminated. SWOFON cooperatives representatives have since sensitised their cooperative members for strategic engagement with policy makers.

• ActionAid Nigeria also supported eight Local Rights Programme (LRP) partners to hold their State Level Stakeholders Fora on Promoting and Achieving Women’s Land Rights and Protecting Poor People’s Land Rights within Land Policy in Nigeria. This invariably, has contributed in increased awareness on Global Land Rights protocol.

• Due to the land fora that were organized at the national level and in eight LRPs, more cooperatives and individuals reported access and control over land. For example, smallholder women farmers in Lasadar community in Gombe State and in Ayah Community in Kogi State were able to get cooperative lands from their traditional chiefs. Cooperatives from Itas/Gadau Local Area Council also had access to 1.5 hectare of land from their local government.

Safe cities campaign for women and girls

Our Safe Cities Campaign, which aimed at improving safety, mobility and access to public services for women and girls living in poverty and exclusion was launched this year. The campaign focused on three universities including - Benue State University, Ondo State University and Ebonyi State University, seeking to explore and respond to the safety needs and rights of university students and staff, especially females.

Our youth campaigners-Activista are the main drivers of our Safe Cities Campaign, over 5000 people including young people in the universities were reached with information, education and communications materials educating them on the need to make public places safe for women and girls. So far, our work has led to:

• Increased awareness of national and state duty bearers such as the National University Commission, University authorities, the Nigerian Police Force, Ministries of Women’s Affairs and Social Development, Education, and Transport on the safety needs and rights of women and girls.

• Commitments from university authorities to address the safety needs and rights of female students and staff. In Ebonyi State University, for instance, the Student Union Government (SUG) committed to review their constitution to reflect gender dimensions, and provide for the safety needs of female students and staff. The school management also acknowledged the lack of gender responsive infrastructure such as female hostels and lighting and has committed to exploring private sector partnerships to ensure that they are put in place. They also committed to making gender and safety of female students an agenda during orientation classes for new students.î


STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3:Advance the rights of children and support young people in building a just, democratic and inclusive society

A t ActionAid we have children and youths at the heart of our programming, shaping and driving actions that bring

about change in their communities. As part of ActionAid’s youth engagement strategy, young people are deliberately given the space to be involved both at the formative stages of interventions and during implementation. This guarantees that young people are able to shape those actions, take the lead in implementing them and claim ownership of the outcomes.

Children and youths constitute more than 70% of the Nigerian population and represent one of the largest populations of young people in Africa. This population strength should be an advantage for a country that is pursuing national development and advancement in human civilization. However, decades of under-

provisioning, both in terms of availability of social safety nets, access to education and empowerment opportunities, as well as an enabling environment that promotes growth and individual development, have contributed to ensuring that the full potentials of young people has not been harnessed

Activista

In Nigeria, one of the ActionAid facilitated platforms through which youths are reached is the Activista. This platform raises the rights and political consciousness of youths, and supports them to mobilise and organise for the purpose of driving change.

• In 2015, ActionAid trained 52 youths across all the Activista cells in 11 states


of the country in the annual Activista Organising for Change Camp, to build their capacity to organise and mobilise within the platform around issues that are peculiar to them in their communities. Most of these were young people pulled from structures within rural communities and from universities with little to no knowledge of organising.

• This has resulted in young people leading community-based interventions such as:

a. The Use the Bridge Campaign in University of Abuja; International Youth Day Public Forum in Bauchi;

b. Environmental Sanitation in Nyanya Abuja; Skills training and entrepreneurship in Nyanya Abuja;

c. The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence (16 DOA) campus march and launch of the Safe Cities Campaign(SCC) in Ebonyi state University and Benue state University; and the

d. ##InspireLagos and #InspireKogi political education engagements;

e. Voter Education and awareness raising in Bauchi and the FCT.

• Following the voters’ education and awareness raising in Bauchi and the FCT, more young participated in the elections. In particular, they analysed the outcome of the presidential election and developed a charter of demands targeted at INEC to ensure that the shortcomings of the presidential election were not repeated in the gubernatorial elections.

• Furthermore, ActionAid facilitated Activista’s yearly holiday lessons in Ondo and Kogi states to promote and nurture volunteerism in young people. They were also supported to actively demand for quality education and the mainstreaming of the Rights in School (PRS) charter. A total of 1,361 school children participated

and benefited from this lesson across both states. Some of these school children have achieved greater rights awareness and have become absorbed into the Activista movement within their communities. They have also assisted in nurturing other cadres of young people through the subsequent edition of the holiday lesson.

• The global horizons of four Activistas were broadened through capacity engagement in the Global Platform Ghana. This deepened their knowledge in planning and organising campaign trainings from inception to implementation and enhanced their leadership effectiveness and youth mobilization potential in Nigeria.

They have gone on to support coordination work at the cell levels in their states as well as support the step-down training for Activistas in Kogi state. They also facilitated the campaigns component of the 2015 edition of the Activista Organising for Change.

• Increased youth participation in global climate discourse through engagement in the Paris Conference of Youth, Climate Change Conference. This ensured that the realities of the sufferings and poverty driven by climate change in the Global South are well captured and adequately translated.

• The Activistas are actively leading discussions with donors, exploring options for fundraising to engage on climate change issues in Nigeria following the conference in Paris.

• 50 Activistas in Ondo and the FCT were trained on global tax policies, and how to engage in the debate on tax policy reform and campaign skills. These young people have driven public actions demanding a review of the incentives granting regime of the Federal Government and raising issues with tax dodging of multinationals and corporates.

• Two Activistas from Nigeria joined others from the Global Activista Federation for the


Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Tour in Denmark. These Activistas have been holding group discussions within their local cells to broaden the knowledge of their peers on the SDGs.

Promoting Rights in Schools (PRS)

Within the scope of our education intervention, certain strategic actions were taken to enhance our work of previous years. Some of these engagements were targeted to strengthen the systems and structures in the project states and communities. The following are examples of such:

• 37 schools in 37 communities have been sensitised using the PRS charter in local languages including Hausa, and Pidgin English.

• 24 schools have significantly progressed on two or more of the 10 core Education Rights in the PRS charter.

• Trainings were organised for 424 members of School Based Management Committees (SBMC) on their roles and responsibilities. These SBMC members have been monitoring enrolment and retention of children, especially girls in schools.

• School infrastructures have also significantly improved in 12 communities. These schools have been provided with child-friendly equipment and gender-responsive toilets. School development plans were drawn up by 20 SBMCs and will be implemented in 2016.

• Increased the enrolment, retention and transition (ERT) of children, especially girls in 35 communities by an average of 20%.

• Advocacy actions taken by women across 12 communities to duty bearers led to government in three states – Ebonyi, Kwara Kebbi and the FCT – acting on their responsibility, providing 8 schools with learning materials and posting female teachers to these schools.

Improved policy framework for child welfare and protection

• We supported four states – Nasarawa, Edo, Benue, Kogi – and the FCT to develop five-year State Plans of Action (SPA) for Vulnerable Children (VC).

• Facilitated the development of NGO sector Violence against Children Response Plan in 2015.

• Supported five states to develop the Child Protection Policy and sensitised key stakeholders such as the police and the judiciary on the provisions of the policy.

In order to achieve appropriate policy framework for child protection, ActionAid:

Facilitated the development of the child-friendly version of the Child Rights Act.

• Facilitated the establishment of functional Family Courts. In the FCT for instance 10 courts, including Magistrate and High Courts were designated for family issues. As a follow up to this, 20 Court Judges (10 Magistrate, 10 High Court) and 25 Assessors on Family Court rules and procedures were trained while a Transit Home was converted to a child correctional centre.

• Through active engagement with the State Ministries of Women Affairs and Social Development (SMWASD), synergy was created with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to address child rights issues. In Edo, Nasarawa, Benue, Kogi and the FCT, Vulnerable Children (VC) referral directories were created. This has become important tool in facilitating access to services for children and their care givers.

• Functional Child Rights Implementation Committees (CRIC) were established in 37 LGAs across five states resulting in partners and community volunteers documenting child protection issues in the states. In the last quarter of 2015, 30 and 29 cases were reported in Edo and Nasarawa states respectively.


Campaigns

ActionAid recognises the strength and dynamism of young people in promoting development ideology. Therefore, our campaign strategies leverage on this. Some of the youth-led campaigns of ActionAid in 2015 include the following:

Social media campaigns

• World Food Day: In 2015, to commemorate the World Food Day, we worked with women farmers to campaign for the inclusion of their needs in the development and implementation of national and state agriculture budgets. Through a twitter discussion with the hashtag #WFDNg2015, we made demands for the provision of social safety nets for women farmers in Nigeria

• International Day of the Girl-Child: This was commemorated to create awareness on the issues of the child in schools and also demand safe spaces for girls. Through a twitter discussion with the hashtag #GirlPowerNg, we increased online engagement leading to more people demanding for safe spaces for girls via virtual platforms, while targeting twitter accounts of responsible duty bearers.

Campaigns

• International Youth Day: The 2015 edition of the International Youth Day was marked with a seminar for young people: ‘Youth and Civic Education’, with engagement of traditional leaders in Ebonyi state. This served to raise the rights consciousness of youths in Ebonyi State University who have since gone on to drive the Safe Cities campaigns in the institution.

• Tax Power Campaign: The campaign is aimed at instigating conservation in the global south online with global north on the tax system, laws and policies. It also seeks to ensure that young people whether students, employers, employees or members of the Civil Society networks have increased critical understanding of global tax policies and how to engage in the debate about tax policy reforms and campaign. So far, there has been increased visibility of the project, leading to increased discourse on the relationship between tax and social development as it relates to welfare, amenities, social development as it relates to welfare, amenities and gender responsive public services.î


STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 4:Enhance human security and livelihood for the poor and excluded

In securing the lives of the people, there is need for a holistic approach that will guarantee safety and better livelihood. With this in mind, there was a deliberate attempt to have an all-encompassing programme intervention along this area in 2015.

Conflict, Emergency and Resilience Interventions

The emergency response conducted in Nasarawa, Kaduna and Plateau states with funding from the Start Fund network reached 6,600 IDPs. Food Items were distributed to 758 households (3,790 persons), while Non Food Items (NFI) were distributed to 562 affected households (2,810 persons)Over 85% of the targeted households of displaced persons received this support within 72 hours while over 100% (758 of the targeted 700)

received within seven days. Psychosocial support was given to 118 internally displaced women with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in camps, collection centres or living with host families.

• 300 aged received blankets for warmth while pregnant and nursing mothers got long lasting mosquito nets.

Beyond the community intervention, efforts were made to work with coordinating Agencies for Emergency to strengthen policy frameworkregarding conflict and emergency response at both state and national levels. Our engagement with emergency coordinating Agencies in Bauchi, Kogi, Ondo,Delta and Gombe States for instance, resulted in the shift of focus from Emergency Response to Resilience Building and Disaster


Risk Reduction (DRR). Also, a National Preparedness Plan was put in place by ActionAid Nigeria with extensive inputs from relevant stakeholders which has influenced practices predominantly at state level.

In ensuring adequate preparedness in emergency response, capacities were built across the project states.

• Training was conducted on community focused peace building in Kogi state with skills transferred to 46 participants from six communities and two of the participants came from the Kogi State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

• Also, 418 Students trained on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Peace Education, resulting in Peace clubs being established in 8 Schools in 2 states (6 in Kogi, 2 in Ondo).

Working with smallholder women farmers on food rights for improved livelihood

In our work in the previous years, we found that engaging smallholder women farmers has added a lot of value to ensuring food security, mostly among the poor and excluded people. Therefore in 2015:

• A total of 2,128 smallholder women farmers were mapped and mobilized in 9 communities and grouped into 45 cooperative societies in Ebonyi State.

• 1,411 smallholder farmers were trained on different aspects of Climate Resilient Sustainable Agriculture (CRSA).

• So far, 3,462 smallholder farmers from 228 farmer groups (inclusive of those trained in 2014) have adopted at least one CRSA practice. Some of these farmers have also reported increase in the quantity and quality of their agricultural yields, resulting in higher incomes, and savings on monies previously used to buy chemical fertilisers.

• The series of advocacy carried out by smallholder women farmers in Delta state, resulted in the women being able to access improved cassava stems, and distributed to the smallholder women farmers in three LGAs.

• Findings from the analysis of the proposed 2016 national and state budgets in six states including Bauchi, Gombe, Ondo, Delta, Kogi and Kwara indicate an emerging trend of budget line items to support CRSA initiatives for farmers. We will continue to work next year to ensure that these line items are implemented, and CRSA support provided to smallholder women farmers by the government.

Promoting Rights of Citizens in Conflicts and Emergencies

The insurgency in North East Nigeria has affected the citizens in the region adversely with evidence of denial of access to certain basic and fundamental rights. The access to basic healthcare facilities is one obvious area of denial with increased exposure of women to Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV). To address some of these issues, ActionAid implemented the “Strengthening Sexual and Reproductive Health service provision in conflict affected communities in North-East Nigeria” project, achieving the following:

• 734 persons (602 males and 132 females) with improved skills providing health-related services in humanitarian settings in three North-East states (Adamawa, Borno and Gombe).

• 13,002 persons (8,264 males and 4,738 females) reached with psychosocial counselling services in the North-East, which has helped them cope with after effects of insurgency. (Insert quote or story in text box).

• Messages on Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), HIV/AIDS were produced in four major languages (Hausa, Fulfulde, Kanuri and English) of the North East reaching large number of listeners:


Adamawa 3.2m; Borno 4.2m; and Gombe 2.4m.

• 740 Military and Para-military personnel (615 males and 125 females) acquired skills to respond appropriately to SGBV, whereby survivors have been able to get redress.

Organisational Effectiveness

Organisational Priorities In 2015, our key organisational priorities were to strengthen our internal governance structures to provide strategic and effective oversights, and also strengthen our systems and processes to further enhance synergy for quality programme delivery.

Internal governance

In pursuit of these objectives, during the year we focused on capacity building, ensuring effective oversight of the work of the organisation, and fundraising—these three areas are integral to the continuing success of ActionAid Nigeria. Some of the achievements recorded in this regard are:

• Initiated a recruitment process for a new Country Director (CD), which was concluded on schedule, thereby ensuring a smooth transition from the outgoing CD to the new CD in April 2015.

• Strengthened the oversight and governance function of the Board through capacity building and community visit for better understanding of ActionAid programmes and their participation in fundraising.

• Enhanced day-to-day supervisory roles of line managers through organised forum for more effective leadership.

Partnerships

Besides the 291,902 people who engaged with us, (79% female and 21% male) in both the policy space and public domain, 2015 was a significant year for ActionAid Nigeria as

we were able to garner nationwide attention and influence public discourse because of our emphasis on people inclusion and people-benefiting policy advocacy.

Using this approach, our communication and campaign actions focused on encouraging policy makers to place people at the centre of state policy and to embrace a culture of applying participatory processes in decision-making. Some of our successful high visibility engagements include:

• The launch of our campaigns on Treaties and Incentives generated interest at the National Assembly and the special anti-corruption agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the incentives granting processes

• Production of Activista National Charter of Demand for the April 11th Gubernatorial elections, which contributed to the pressure on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to review the outcomes of the March 28th Presidential elections and put measures in place to avert a repeat of its shortcomings in the Gubernatorial elections

• National launch of the ActionAid Nigeria Safe Cities project and the attendant media coverage, which raised visibility of women’s safety concerns in public spaces.

• Facilitation of a high level advocacy visit to government officials in Kebbi State, which resulted in commitments from the government for posting of five teachers (three female and two male) to three newly constructed and renovated schools.

• Moreover, 140 volumes of textbooks were also obtained for the schools.

Civil Society Organisation Engagement

At both national and states levels, we worked with community and civil society organisations on policy research and mobilising for


influencing public policy. Some instances include:

• As an active member of a national-level humanitarian cluster known as the Protection Sector Working Group (PSWG), we promoted the domestication of the Kampala Convention, in Nigeria. The Convention, which addresses internal displacement caused by armed conflict, natural disasters and large-scale development projects, spells out the rights of Internally Displaced Persons, a demographic that has grown in Nigeria due to insurgency.

Coalitions, Networks and Campaigns Platforms

In keeping with our culture of working with other groups to achieve positive change, we have partnered with different coalitions and actively participated in their activities. These include:

• The Citizens’ Wealth Platform, Civil Society Situation Room and the CSO Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption, which are all focused on anti-corruption advocacy.

• The Albino Foundation, the Federation of Muslim Women Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN), the Joint National Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD) and the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), which are groups that we supported through our citizens’ engagement activities.

• The Nigeria Tax Justice and Governance platform, which continued to be a strong voice on treaties.

• The West African Tax Administrators Forum (WATAF), a group with which we now have a relationship to advocate on tax issues.

• Similarly, the relationship with the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) got stronger.

• In the same vein, our relationship with the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) regional office in the Republic of Togo was strengthened with the hope of impacting more on the Nigeria labour centres.

Capacity building and System strengthening

In order to strengthen the capacity of our partners to deliver quality programmes in the communities they work in, we took the following actions:

• Board Governance training for four Local Rights Partners’ Board of Trustees, namely: Bauchi, Gombe, Kogi, and the Federal Capital Territory.

• We mentored partners and communities on the Reflection-Action methodology. Through findings from this methodology, Osaragada and Ofuloko communities in Kogi State were able to prevail on the State Universal Basic Education Board to improve upon education infrastructure in their communities with evidence of ongoing classroom construction.

Learning from our research, reviews and evaluations

In line with our reputation as a learning organisation, ActionAid Nigeria uses findings and feedback from its work to improve the quality of its programme interventions. This year, our annual participatory reflection and review process (PRRP) incorporated the reflection-action methodology rolled out within the organisation in 2014. This had the effect of expanding the platform for partners and communities to engage duty bearers on matters of sustainable development.The findings from these research, reviews and evaluations highlighted the need for increased accountability from duty bearers to poor and excluded communities, as well as helped communities work together to demand their rights.

• Communities in which we work are now better at documenting community charters


of demand for evidence-based advocacy, negotiation and monitoring. In 2015 this was recorded in Akwa Ibom, Delta, Gombe, Kogi, Ondo, and the FCT.

• We increased our engagement with government at the state and national levels targeting gender machineries like the Ministry of Women Affairs, and gender desk units of agencies such as the Nigeria Police Force and other MDAs. This was based on findings from an evaluation conducted in 2015, which highlighted the need to improve our engagement with policy makers, and link this to our women’s rights work at the community level.

• The adoption of community paralegal systems within the communities where we work was a fall out of a study conducted in Ebonyi state and the FCT, which revealed the structures women are comfortable reporting to. This learning led to the set-up of community-based structures to address Harmful Traditional Practices (HTP) and Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG).

Fundraising

ActionAid Nigeria has three streams of fundraising. These include:

• Institutional Partnership Development (IPD) – High Value funding that creates opportunities for people and organisations with significant resources to make large donations to ActionAid’s work. High Value donors are defined as:

• Individual major donors

• Charitable trusts or foundations

• Major foundations

• Companies. Donations over £5,000 per year. Although this depends on what is locally appropriate.

• Individual Giving

• Child Sponsorship – A fundraising mechanism where children as ambassadors of their communities are linked to supporters abroad and flexible fund used for Local Right Programme implementation. In 2015, we had a total of 10240 supporters under this mechanism.

• Community Sponsorship – This is the individual giving mechanism where the working middle/upper class are giving opportunity to partake in the overall development of the country. The rationale is to build a movement of people that will feel the pulse of the poor and excluded and contribute to redistributing wealth.

Our Community Sponsorship programme, launched last year, has grown to include 650 supporters so far, with N2, 000 being the regular amount being paid by each supporter every month.

Resources and Accountability

Your support matters/Support a community – call to actionî


S/N Name Partnership Type State

1 Society for Community Development

Partnership and Local Rights Programme (PLRP)

FCT

2 Hope for the Lonely Gombe

3 Hope for the Village Child Kaduna

4 Participatory Development Alternatives (PDA) Ebonyi

5 Participatory Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development Kogi

6 Justice Development and Peace Commission Ondo

7 Active Support for Rural Peoples' Initiative (ASURPI) Kebbi

8Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE)

Kwara

9 African Human Development Centre (AHDC) Akwa Ibom

10 Environmental & Rural Medication Centre (ENVIRUMEDIC) Delta

11 Fahimta Women and Youth Development Initiative (FAWOYDI) Bauchi

12 International Press Centre

Strengthening Citizen’s Engagement in Electoral Process (SCEEP)

Lagos

13 Information Network Oyo

14 Community Reach Initiative Adamawa

15 Leads Nigeria Kaduna

16 CITAD Kano

17 Fahimta Women and Youth Development Initiative (FAWOYDI) Bauchi

18 Community Action for Popular Participation Plateau

19 Citizens Direct Network Rivers

20 Women United for Economic Empowerment Akwa Ibom

21 Development Dynamics Imo

22 Adolescent Girls Initiative

Promoting Girls Retention and Enrolment in Secondary School (PROGRESS)

Sokoto

23 Community Reach Initiative (CRI) Strengthening Sexual and Reproductive Health Service Provision in Conflict affected Communities in North-East (STRESPCIN)

Adamawa

24 SUKUL Community Development Association (SCODA) Borno

25 Nightingale Women's Health Initiative Gombe


Please note:

• PLRP is AAN’s long term partnership approach while other partnership type featured here are project based.

• Also, Some LRP’s facilitated the implementation of some projects such as:

§ SCEEP: Bauchi in the year under review. Recent donor changes however expunged Bauchi from the list

§ SWEDGE: LRPs Kwara, Ebonyi, Kebbi and the FCT implemented this project.

§ PFA: This is a project driven by AAN through 8 LRP states including Kwara, Ondo, Delta, Kogi, Bauchi, Ebonyi Gombe and the FCT as well as a national small holder women farmers’ network.

§ Promoting women, children and young people’s rights through knowledge building and community organizing was implemented by Kogi, Ebonyi and Akwa-Ibom LRP states.î


For many years the over four thousand inhabitants of Ofuloko, a farming community 103 kilometres from

Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, contended with the lack of a clean water source. Every day, women and children were exposed to accidents as they trekked long distances across rocky and uneven terrain to fetch water from the streams of neighbouring communities.

The water situation affected the social and economic lives of the people of Ofuloko negatively as they complained that the dirty water they always got from the streams was causing havoc to their health. Although several attempts were made to bring in government intervention, year in year out it did not yield any positive result.

During a Reflection and Action programme organised by ActionAid Nigeria and Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development (PIBCID), the people of Ofuloko identified water as their most pressing need. ActionAid/PIBCID carried out a survey of the land to determine the viability of sinking a borehole but discovered that due to the depth of the water level the cost was beyond their capabilities.

So the people were urged to write a letter to the Ministry of Water Resources and the Rural Water and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA). According to Mr. Godwin Friday, one of the residents of Ofuloko, “ActionAid/PIBCID helped championed the advocacy for the provision of water by helping us to draft the

letter which they followed us to take to the Ministry of Water Resources and RUWASSA.”

These efforts subsequently led to the water project being one of those approved by the government in July 2015. The project began soon after the approval.

“We believe that it was the effort of ActionAid/PIBCID that led to the government approval for this water project,” Mr. Friday said.

The issue of the people of Ofuloko trekking long distances to fetch water for their daily activities has now been resolved. Today they have access to clean potable water in place of the dirty, disease-ridden stream water they used in the past.

Also, because the borehole serves the five villages that make up Ofuloko, it will facilitate another level of mutual cooperation and unity among the people as they will now be maintaining it together. Additionally, the health condition of the people will equally improve as the new water source will reduce cases of waterborne diseases.

In the words of Mr. Friday, “This project is a direct outcome of ActionAid/PIBCID advocacy effort. The construction of this motorised borehole will reduce our stress of walking long distances to fetch water. As cleanliness is next to godliness, this water project will bring to an end all those waterborne diseases that was affecting our people and lead to an improvement in our communal relationship.” î

Let there be clean water How our unique way of working helped a deprived community get a motorised borehole

STORIES of CHANGE

26 ActionAid Annual Report 2015

1A Adeboye Solanke Street, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria

Aan report 2015b

Documents

Transcript of Aan report 2015b