IWCC is the International Women Communication Centre.  It is an ideal that was conceived of by a group of women’s rights activists in February 1993 at the end of the International Interdisciplinary Congress of Women Conference.  The Conference focused on the need to improve the communication network with grassroots women in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

 IWCC-Nigeria is a locally based women’s organization in Ilorin, in Kwara state. Our mandate is to find various means to disseminate information from the international network to Nigerian women at the grassroots level. Because of our location in Kwara state, we serve as branch office to various international NGOs, including: the west-African office of the Pan-African Women Liberation Organization (PAWLO), International Alliance of Women Politicians (IAWP), Help Women in Distress, Women’s Voice on Radio Link, Groot-Super Coalition, the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women (GAATW), and WINGS Nigeria – Information Gathering on Women.

We use various strategies to deliver information to women without Internet access. These are:

1)  We hold weekly meetings in which we share information received

over the internet with local women’s organizations and UN bodies.

2)  We print local newsletters in local languages.

3)  We distribute pamphlets on market day to women.

4)  We run exchange programs with the local school authority.

5)  We hold workshops on topical issues.

6)  We meet with other women’s NGOs to discuss what is going on around the world.

7)  We broadcast information on the local community radio station

(on Women’s Concerns).

8)  We produce video documentaries on current issues.

9)  We run a resource centre (library), which is free access.

10) We display posters around town where people can see and read them.

Some of our achievements include:

1)  Helping to ratify the UN treaties and covenants on Women’s Human Rights (e.g., CEDAW) in Nigeria

2)  Serving as a link between grassroots women and the government in our community

3)  Securing micro-credit loans for poverty eradication for our local women

4)  Securing redress and compensation for women victims of the 1966-70 Biafra war

5)  Eradicating female child genital mutilation in Nigeria

6)  Eradicating girl child marriages in Nigeria.

Based on these successes, we now move on to other difficult tasks:

eradicating the trafficking of Nigerian girls to Europe and the Middle East and the issue of child labour.  We are thinking of establishing a radio station and running an enlightenment campaign on this subject.

By the way: IWCC-Nigeria serves over 50,000 woman and children. We are set up as a community centre where people often come for information – sometimes even daily.

WHAT IS WOMENS LAND RIGHTS

This project is a two year advocacy and capacity building that will empower women program and girls in Grassroots communities by giving them access to properties, lands and security of land tenure. The project took place in different communities of Kwara State and Abuja, Nigeria.

Gender has become a critical issue on Women’s access to land rights due to the fact that there is a direct relationship between accessing land resources, having secured land rights, achieving food security and overcoming poverty.

Consequences of Women’s poor access to land include lack of access of credit facilities from formal financial institutions, where land serves as collateral. Another challenge is that women are unable to farm at will, when their farm produce it could be an alternative source of income for their families. There is also a shift in the household dynamics, roles and income generation that is prevalent as women fend for their families in most of these households.

For these reasons, the participation of Women in local land management and administration committees and their inclusion on the issue of land dispute resolution/management committees is basic for women’s empowerment as it enables them to take part in community level decision making processes.

We started this program in April with planning meeting and inception meetings which took place in May 2019 and is been implemented in four (4) different zones namely: Abuja, Offa, Lafiagi and Ilorin.

CORONA VIRUS AND WOMEN LAND RIGHTS, ADVOCACY AND COLLABORATION.

During the lockdown on Corona Virus, IWCC carried out the following programs;

The outbreaks of corona virus poise a serious challenge to our Women’s economic livelihood because of the global lockdown of cities and towns. This brought economic shocks most Women now faced the following challenges. These are;

  • Climate change and impact on Ecosystem and food security in terms of farming and other subsistence farming. No rain and too much heat and other climatic conditions preventing Women who produce food and caregivers at home. The lockdown denied Women from going to farms and markets.
  • Issues of climate change and pest control, use of pesticide to kill locust insect on the infection of land. These are desert encouragement locust pesticide.

EFFECT OF TOTAL LOCKDOWN.

The lockdown has had a devastating impact on investment and trade of our Grassroots Women and their communities: Corona Virus diseases has a very negative impact on humanity in terms of physical emotional advancement and endangered the life of Women. Grassroots women need awareness, towards the preventions and controls of the diseases.

The Women and our communities need awareness and advocacy programs on the prevention and the control of these diseases. There is the fear of Corona Virus on community transmission in rural areas because of the lack of knowledge on the mode of transmission and prevention. There is the need for more awareness  creation in rural areas, therefore, there is need for this platform to work together to design a program to build and strengthen the knowledge of communities on issues of Corona Virus and the global health of Grassroots Women to strengthen their capacity in political and economic crisis. Therefore IWCC Proposed Intervention to address issues of Corona Virus are listed below:

  • To monitor and track the total compliance with lockdown stay home to prevent the spread and control of the Virus in terms of hunger virus (poverty has increased).
  • IWCC plan to monitor community palliative care and support programs of Government
  • IWCC plan to address Issues of Gender base violence by tracking to ensure the data collection of infected and affected families.
  • Compliment Government Actions and do a follow up of after hospital treatment support for infected and affected families to reduce stigma.