A one-day stakeholders’ validation workshop of Audit Reports on Policies on Gender, Health and Education was organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and the TY Danjuma Foundation in Abuja. Abimbola Akosile, who attended the meeting, examines the outcomes and recommendations
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), in partnership with TY Danjuma Foundation, held a one-day stakeholders’ validation workshop of Audit reports on policies on Gender, Health and Education in Nigeria.
The meeting focused on the specific aims of working towards the actualisation of the outlined Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) between now and 2015.
The stakeholders were drawn from the ministries, lawmakers, civil society organisations and the media. In attendance were Chairman House committee on women affairs, Hon. Christina Alaaza; Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Gender, represented by Mrs. Davidson Ekpo.
The Federal Ministry of Health was represented by Dr. Chima Elenwune; Federal Ministry of Education, represented by Dr. Olu Ayewoh; National Human rights Commission, represented by Fatimah Shamaki; and other CSOs and ministries representatives.
The top resource person was the Dean, Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Prof. Tawfiq Ladan
Three Audit Reports
The Audit reports for the three critical human development sectors (gender, education and health) considered during the validation workshop were undertaken by Prof. Ladan, who took all participants through an enriching and exhaustive analysis of the three sectors.
The reports sought to review the rationale, objectives and contents of the National Policy and implementation framework on education, health and gender; and to determine the relevance of the policy and legal frameworks in the attainment of the millennium development goals (especially MDG 2, 3, 4 and 6) and targets in Nigeria;
They also tried to make recommendations on how to address identified challenges in the implementation of the health, gender and education policy framework.
Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), who welcomed participants to the forum, underlined the critical importance of meeting the vital MDGs on or before the 2015 deadline year for global realisation.
According to him, the MDGs are crucial to Nigeria’s development process and every effort must be put in by all relevant stakeholders to ensure their realisation for the growth and success of the country.
Prof. Ladan prepared and enlightened participants on three audit reports on the ‘National Gender Policy and Implementation Framework: - Meeting the Challenges of Attaining the MDGs and Targets in Nigeria. He also highlighted his research findings on the education and health sectors.
Policy on Gender
The audit report on gender policy reviewed the rationale, objectives and contents of the National Gender Policy and Implementation Framework.
It also sought to determine the policy relevance in the attainment of MDGs (especially MDG3) and targets in Nigeria; and to make recommendations on how to address any identified challenge(s) or gap(s) in the Gender policy/implementation framework.
The audit report on gender noted that Nigeria recognises that democracy and good governance requires that men and women have unrestricted access to spaces of power where they can realise their political value where their individual demands and preferences can be manifested and satisfied.
It added that reducing gender disparities can lead to improved macroeconomic performance. “The recognition that gender disparities are harmful and that government budgets are not gender neutral implies a need to incorporate gender considerations into the budgeting process”.
It noted that with the on-going reform measures in most of the sectors of the Nigerian economy tailored towards mainstreaming gender in law, policy, government, politics and economy, there was need for government to redouble her efforts by ensuring that adequate budgetary allocations are made and released in timely manner for gender oriented intervention programmes/activities.
In addition, the report stated that sustained political will was required to progressively mainstream gender in budgeting, governance, health, constitutionalism, access to economic resources as well as social services.
Attaining the Health Targets
The audit report on health sought to review the rationale, objectives and contents of the National Health Policy Frameworks; to determine the relevance of the policy frameworks in the attainment of MDGs (especially MDGs 4 - 6) and targets in Nigeria; and to make recommendations on how to address any identified challenge(s) in the implementation of the health policy frameworks.
In Abuja (Nigeria) in April 2001, African Heads of States and governments pledged to allocate at least 15 per cent of their annual budget to improvement in the health sector.
The report noted that the current structure of funding for the HIV/AIDS sub-sector was defective. “A situation where 87.3 per cent of the financing for HIV/AIDS comes from external sources is certainly not sustainable. It just shows that government is retreating from its obligations.
“If the health-related MDGs are to be achieved by 2015, there needs to be increased allocation of resources to the health sector by the Federal, State and Local Governments, and more importantly, a better coordination of efforts among these tiers of government.
This, it added, can be done by improving the quality of life of citizens, especially women, through a significant reduction of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality, unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and through the elimination of harmful practices and sexual violence.
Vital Recommendations
Prof. Ladan recommended that the decay in the health sector should be checked through the instrumentality of legislation and appropriate policy guidelines that are effectively implemented, monitored and evaluated.
He also urged the National Assembly to take steps to pass the proposed Health Sector Reform Bill (that has been before the National Assembly for more than four years) into law.
According to the audit report, the delay in passing the bill was mainly responsible for the on-going confusion in the nation’s health care delivery system; such that the rights and duties of health care providers, health workers, health establishments, and user are properly delineated.
To improve the policy environment, a vigorous preventive awareness campaign should be mounted like never before. This should be so enriched with cases and statistics to compel a positive change in the behaviour of the target populations and the message should be disseminated consistently and sustainably to the remotest corner of the country”, the report recommended.
Meeting Education Challenges
A detailed audit report by Prof. Ladan sought to review the rationale, objectives and contents of the National Policy and Legal Frameworks on Education; to determine the relevance of the policy and legal frameworks in the attainment of MDGs (especially MDG 2) and targets in Nigeria.
The report also made recommendations on how to address any challenge(s) or identified gap(s) in the policy and legal frameworks.
The audit report noted that there are more than 20 million children attending over 60,000 public basic education schools. North-South and rural-urban differentials are evident. In the urban sector, almost 4 out of every 5 children of primary school age are in school as against less than 3 out of every 5 in the rural areas.
The MDG target on primary education is to achieve 100 per cent net primary school enrolment and 100 per cent female-male parity by year 2015. The target also sates that school completion rate for all children, boys and girls alike should reach 100 per cent by 2015.
The report noted that Federal government and most likely state and local government budgetary allocation to education have not been substantial (given the needs of this sector) and stable.
The report also stressed the need for governments and private sector initiative in providing skills development for products of Quranic schools: - especially, in tailoring, shoe and soap-making etc.
Various Observations
Participants observed policy inconsistency and lack of continuity as ills affecting development in the country, and also observed the seeming lack of political will to invest in health, gender and education by the government.
They observed that the legislators are not properly mainstreamed in the struggle to achieve the MDGs.
Worried about the inefficiency and the high rate of corruption prevalent among the 774 LGAs in the 36 states of the federation; including the FCT, the participants identified lack of transparency and accountability as part of the ills behind the ineffectiveness of local governance in the country; which can affect the actualisation of the MDGs target in 2015.
Poor support and lack of encouragement for female who politicians was also identified as hindrance that could hamper the target of gender equity in the country.
In spite of the hope the new national health policy project towards reforming and ensuring improved health care delivery in the country between now and 2015, participants identified disagreement among the stakeholders in Health sector on some parts of the contents of the policy as another debilitating effect on the policy’s aims and the actualisation of the MDGs within the set targeted period.
They observed low budgetary allocation to health, gender and education ministries as part of the problems affecting the output of such sector(s) to national development and attainment of MDG goals.
Participants identified consistent lack of performance of LGAs as an offshoot of state government control and excessive influence on the funds and the activities of the local government areas.
They also observed that the last content of chapter two of the 1999 Constitution undermines the right on citizens to free and compulsory education.
Crucial Recommendations
The interactive Audit validation workshop after critical analysis into all the identified ills afflicting the actualisation of the MDGs between now and 2015 recommended various steps.
Participants recommended that policy makers and legislators be consist in making quality policies that are consist with the framework of gender, health and education to ensure attainment of the MDGs.
They called on the legislators and policy-makers to make stronger policies that would lead to the achievement of the MDGs, and urged lawmakers to play their legislative oversight role and appropriate resources into health, gender and education that would lead to the attainment of the MDGs.
The forum recommended that CSOs work closely with the LGAs in all the 36 states of the federation; including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja for monitoring and evaluation of the funds meant for MDGs.
Participants also urged stakeholders in the health sector to harmonise their differences on the contents of the new national health policy in the interest of the sector and the actualisation of the MDGs.
Speakers at the workshop implored the CSOs to create awareness among the people and ensure that government is accountable and transparent to the people; while the Special Adviser to the President on MDGs was urged to partner the CSOs, Ministries and the media on the road to achieve MDG goals within the stipulated time.
CSOs were tasked to begin advocacy with the legislators in order to remove the clause in Chapter Two of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers office holder(s) to and not to give compulsory primary education, in order to make education accessible to all.
Participants recommended that periodic publications on the performance of the LGAs on primary health care delivery be adopted to ensure improvement in service delivery on health, while CSOs were urged to develop initiative for funding.
They thanked CISLAC for carrying out the Audit policy and organising the workshop. CISLAC’s intervention has provided CSOs with ‘their own’ document. They further observed that CSOs, ministries, media and government at all levels have the responsibility and duty to ensure the actualisation of the MDGs within the stipulated time.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/health-gender-and-education-mdgs-outcomes-on-policy-audits/100912/
