Mission
- Monitoring the
implementation of women’s rights for the attainment of equal status of women
in all aspects of social, political and economic development within the
communities and the nation at large.
- Organizing and
establishing resource centers from which individuals and other organizations
committed to feminist goals can share space, equipments and information on
women’s issues.
- Monitoring and
ensuring the implementation of all commitments made by government bodies and
agencies through conventions, charters, regulations and agreements geared
towards the welfare and enhancement of the status of women.
- Educating the public on the rights of women and the means of enforcing such rights for the achievement of full equality and development.
The achievement of these objectives relies on the combination of our four main strategies:
RESEARCH
The fight against gender and child violence relies on solid, first-hand information. WOCON co-authored the first definitive report on trafficking from Nigeria in 1997, at the request of the UN Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. WOCON is now building up its research capacity. This will enable us to collect first hand information on the more sensitive aspects of trafficking such as the involvement of traditional priests in legitimizing the agreements between traffickers and their victims or the appalling conditions in which many trafficked victims are deported back to Nigeria from abroad.
MEDIA
WOCON continues to
enjoy tremendous publicity and has become associated worldwide with the issue of
trafficking in women especially. We have developed close contacts with the
Nigerian media and give regular press briefings. We also produce video material.
NETWORKING
Being a coalition
allows WOCON to draw on a network of organizations in Nigeria which have
complementary talents and specialties. They include the International
Reproductive Rights Research Action Group (IRRRAG) and the African Women
Empowerment Group (AWEG). WOCON is also expanding its contacts within Africa
with its membership to the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) - a
network of NGOs and individuals committed to the promotion of women's rights
based in Harare.
INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH
WOCON acts as a mouthpiece for Nigerian civil society on the issue of trafficking. We also make every effort to raise awareness on the plight of Nigerian women and children to the rest of the world through our international partners and associations. Our officers have been active at major UN meetings, including the 1998 Plenipotentiary Conference on the establishment of an international criminal court, and the 1999 Verona seminar on "Trafficking in Human Beings and New Forms of Slavery". We have lead a number of collaborative efforts with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and in the year 2000, the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women (GAATW) appointed us as its Africa Regional focal point. We also work in close partnership with the Advocacy Project - a Washington DC based NGO that supports grassroots human rights campaigns all over the world