WOFAN CONCEPT

1
WOFAN CONCEPT

• By
• HAJIA SALAMATU GARBA-
• COORDINATOR
• WOMEN FARMERS ADVANCEMENT NETWORK
• WOFAN
• OR
• 2ND AFRICAN REGIONAL PREPARATORY CONFERENCE FOR
  WSIS-ACCRA
• 2005

2
GOAL OBJECTIVES OF WOFAN

• GOAL
• sustainable improvement in the quality of life
  rural populace.
• OBJECTIVE
• Reach out to rural communities and provide a
  forum for them to express and support themselves
  
• Encourage them to form commodity groups to ensure
  adequate access to agricultural information
  facilities, including credit and insurance
  facilities

3
Approach

• sustainable livelihoods strategy
• Rights based Approach
• Empowerment towards Availability of Resources

4
Community participation

• participatory responsive, with self selection
  groups.
• Rural groups are assisted to identify their
  needs and draw up action plans for intervention
  using PRA/PLA
• Each group chooses its president, secretary and
  treasurer responsible for implementing
  WOFAN-assisted projects.

•  

• In each community, there are at least two
  committees
• Project implementation committee (PIC) made of
  group representatives, women and youths to
  monitor on going projects
• Project Advisory committee (PAC) religious,
  traditional, local government and professional
  representatives to advise and support on going
  projects

5
Characteristics of the hard to reach women with
which WOFAN works in the rural communities

•         They are women who, having married
  between the ages of 10 and 11 years, are tucked
  away into seclusion by their husbands through the
  rest of their lives.
•         They are mostly illiterate.
•         They possess no land nor do they possess
  any economically exploitable skills.
•         Their communities see them as
  reproductive human machines whose main role in
  life is to endlessly conceive, give birth and
  care for children.
•         They exhibit the 3ps
• poor , pregnant and powerless.
•  

6
Problem identification session with male and
female groups on health issues in U/Kwari
village-2000. Also there is visual aid and
illustrations for facilitate the participation of
the male and female groups
7

• poverty Reduction Strategies using the radio was
  prioritized to focus on the following key issues
  
• Health,
• livelihoods,
• governance,
• capacity building through Functional literacy
  programmes

8
Women sit around their radios after their various
income generation activities and listen to
programmes on health and current affairs. They
also record their feed back or prepare radio
programme around such topics . In cases where
issues raised require professionals or advocacy,
WOFAN facilitiates the process
9
Some important topics touched

• Causes of poverty using the problem tree analysis
  who's why, when and what is way forward?
• Men prefer female gynecologists but never send
  their daughters to school- who will become the
  midwives and gynecologists?
• Case study of 2003 election in Kuyan Ta
  Inna(Fulani village in Kumbotso LGA)-Kano Nigeria

10
Some crucial HEALTH issues analyzed

• The hot bath- Wankan Jego-case study followed up
  by BBC/ gynaecologist came up with a training
• VVF/ TBAS-traditional birth attendants
• Multiple circumcision of boys using the same
  razor
• Menopause- breaking the culture of silence
• Too frequent pregnancies and health risks

11
ACHIEVEMENT / IMPACT
12
Participation of women in world Aids day and
other international day celebrations- being able
to advocate for improved policies

• Other results include
• Electricity in Kumbotso where women used the
  radio to press on policy makers until they got
  electricity in their community
• Govt taking over the running of pre-school in
  Wudil LGA as a result of advocacy and constant
  reminder through the radio. School now receives
  same benefits as government owned schools

13

• STOP STIGMA! discrimination on PLWHA/PABAS
• POSITIVE WOMEN SPEAK OUT
• SIX MONTH POSITVE BABY CUDDLED BY EMIR DURING AN
  ADVOCACY BY WOFA AND RURAL WOMEN GROUPS IN KANO
• RURAL WOMEN ADVOCATED FOR IMPROVED ARV DRUGS AND
  MOTHER TO CHILD PREVENTIVE MEASURES

HIV/AIDS REDUCTION! BREAKING THE CULTURE OF
SILENCE
14

• MICRO-CREDIT AND GROUP ACTIVITIES.
• This promoted and improved decision making power
  of women at family and community level.
• Men started negotiating for the sale of their
  ground with women and discussing business and
  health matters!
• Women and community members use the few telephone
  facilities to make contacts to market their
  produce
• Women take photos and video record their income
  generation activities. Pictures are used by WOFAN
  for the production of community newsletter in the
  local language. Like wise, CD copies are made in
  a documentary form and used for advocacy and
  training materials at community level and for the
  policy makers.
• Plans are on the way to start a typing center for
  the women and youths with basic primary
  education- this will assit them master keyboards
  before computers are introduced to them

15
Functional and vocational training of women AND
YOUTH GROUPS TRAINED IN ENVIRONMENT CREEDIT
MANAGEMENT HEALTH ISSUES/ REPRODUCTIVE
RIGHTS GOOD GOVERNANCE AND VOTERS RIGHTS USE OF
VIDEO/ PHOTOGRAPHY NEWSLETTERS TYPING USING
TELEPHONE FOR MARKET INFORMATION AND MARKET
OUTLET
16

• REPRESENTATIVE OF EMIR AT THE GRADUATION OF RURAL
  WOMEN IN
• PHOTOGRAPHY
• VIDEO RECORDING
• PHOTOGRAPHIC STORY TELLING used to compile
  community newsletters. Women are now making
  arrangement to have community libraries for their
  newsletters, video and photographs

17
Initially, men stopped their wives from attending
antenatal because they didnt want male
gynecologists to attend to their women. Through
the radio,it was made clear that if men are not
sending the girls to school, there can never be
enough female gynecologists to meet the needs of
the communities- this has improved attendance and
retention rates of girls in some of the LGAS
childrens day celebration-2001 Stimulated girl
CHILD EDUCATION both for modern and Islamic
education in the villages. Girls attend school
before going out for hawking. In Kumurya-women
are now recognized to form part of PTA and also
visit pre-school project once in a month
18
CHALLENGES

• coverage area is small compared to the entire
  state-
• Most media stations are government owned-
• Capacity building of the groups needs
  strengthening in editing of video cassettes,
  typing pool, youths need keyboards that can
  recognize local language.
• high cost of GSM cards, and very few telephone
  boots.
• local language journals few and not regular.
• Accessibility of roads, interconnectivity,electric
  ity, CAPACITY BUILDING
• Poverty bites harder, as such Migration
  continues

19
Factors ensuring sustainability in WOFAN projects

• Gender issues, women and men are trained to work
  together for the benefit of their community
• Peoples project- idea and ownership of the people
• PIC/PAC and involvement of traditional ,religious
  and local government officials involved in
  community issues
• Documentation and tracking of projects
  effectively carried out by groups in partnership
  with WOFAN-
• Friendly government policy of waiving off schools
  fees for the girl child up till tertiary level
  in Kano state.
• All groups have their leaders and generate their
  own income
• Smooth working r/ship between all stakeholders

20
Future plan as prioritized with groups

• FLAG UP to improve Networking between and
  within groups to advocate for poverty reduction
  through improved ICT for peoples development
• Address issues of HIV/AIDS stigmatization and
  breaking the culture of silence through the use
  of improved information and communication
  strategies
• Develop a website to capture groups activities,
  their profile and update to share achievement
  with others
• At least 10 of women and youths working with
  WOFAN to become computer literate and be able to
  use email and website for their socio-economic
  activities in the next 2 years

21
Way Forward

• Communicate effectively receive feedback
• Allow groups manage their own development issues
• ( women and youth centers-involvement from
  planning to implementation
• Functional literacy/ICT literacy/Build capacity
• mobile information for produce marketing ,
• Rural libraries,
• Improved rural connectivity,transport and postal
  services, )

22

• Give rural communities a voice and then lend
  them a hand
• (community radios/policy and capacity building
  should improve in Nigeria)
• Avoid Tokenistic participation of the rural people

23

• For every woman living in poverty, there are at
  least 4-6 hungry children !As such..

24
lets put all hands on deck to ensure that the
less privileged in our societies wiggle out of
poverty through an improved use and management of
ICT for their own development Thank you all