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MISSION STATEMENT
The Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (IHRHL),
established in August 1988, is a non-political,
non-profit, independently funded community-based
structural human rights education, research, public
interest advocacy and documentation; national organization
with its national, state and rural offices in the oil rich
Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Its primary objective is to
effectively create a culture of rights and
responsibilities through its bottom-up programs in
Nigeria. It is duly registered as Trusteeship under the
relevant laws with the Corporate Affairs Commission of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria. The IHRHL operates in
accordance with the Nigerian Constitution, Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, African Charter on Human and
Peoples Rights and other numerous international and
regional human rights instruments on human rights and
fundamental freedoms.
WHAT IS THE IHRHL?
The nature of the IHRHL is best understood against the
deprivation and poverty, which has become a way of life in
the Niger Delta Region and background of Nigeria?s legal
system and the access to social justice, which this does
or does not accord. Nigeria is a country of deep-seated
corruption and inequality. This takes many forms, and is
especially evident in the nature of unaccountable
governance and the availability of legal services to
individuals. In a country of approximately 120,000,000
people, there are about 130,000 practising attorneys,
qualified to meet their legal needs. This means that the
vast majority of the populations ? especially those that
live in remote rural areas, have no access to legal
assistance. Ignorance and illiteracy compound the problem.
Particularly in rural areas, people have no concept of
their rights under the law, no understanding of the fact
that law can be used to serve and protect their legitimate
interests, no inkling of how to obtain redress of wrongs
from those who abuse public power for private gains.
This situation cause untold suffering to individuals. It
is also deeply inimicable to the maintenance of democracy
in a post-military era in Nigeria. Democracy rests, we
strongly believe, on knowledge of, and respect for, mutual
rights under law. It requires understanding of the role of
law, respect for the rule of law, and a mutual willingness
to accord rights and honour obligations. It demands, in
short, a rights-based culture. Yet such a culture is sadly
lacking in Nigeria today, especially in far-flung rural
areas, where ignorance and poverty abound.
Turning the search light to the Niger Delta region, the
majority of rural residents are under-educated or
completely illiterate; and have no knowledge of the law,
or the economic, social and cultural rights which it
accords.
AN ORGANIC PROGRAMME
An innovative approach to meet this problem is required.
It cannot be assumed that a sufficient number of qualified
attorneys will take up residence in rural areas. There is
also minimal long-term gain in using city lawyers to take
occasional test-cases through the courts, for this solves
only the immediate problem and does nothing to empower the
rural communities. What is needed is an organic programme,
growing out of the communities and responsive to their
needs, which will empower community members to identify
and know their rights under law, to manage their own legal
problems and to develop self-reliance: the key to
self-determination and mutual respect for rights. The
Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law has been
created to develop an organic programme. It is dedicated
to bringing law in its social, economic and cultural form,
within the reach of rural communities in the Niger Delta
region specifically and Nigeria in general. In doing so,
it carries out series of programmes and activities in
partnership with the communities that it serves.
THE OPERATION OF THE IHRHL
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
The IHRHL works in close cooperation with the communities
it serves. Large community meetings are convened in the
preliminary stages to explain the aims and operation of
any of our project and gauge the extent of community
support. ( This has been overwhelming). Once the decision
has been made for the IHRHL to begin operating in a
community , the community elects a paralegal committee,
responsible for providing premises for an advise office
and for the day-to-day administration of the office. The
paralegal committee then chooses two adults to be trained
as paralegals. Gender equality plays a major role in the
selection of participants for our programmes. Trainees
must be fluent in both English and their local dialect.
Ongoing liaison is maintained with paralegal committees,
to ensure that the project remains sensitive to community
perceptions and priorities. Paralegal committees also
receive training to develop legal knowledge and
administration skills.
ANNUAL REPORT 2000
COMMUNITY-BASED EMPOWEREMENT FOR A
PEOPLE DRIVEN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT /LIVELIHOOD
The year 2002 was a productive year for IHRHL. It marked
14 years of the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian
Law?s existence. It was a year premised on Innovation,
Advancement and Sustainability. IHRHL remained a well
focused, result-oriented and people centred human rights
organization, reaching out to all levels of our society:
professional associations, civil society organization, the
legislature, the judiciary, the executive, the
international community, public agencies, multinational
oil corporations and wider public. IHRHL continued to
build its programme and institutional base in a bid to
evolve into a center of excellence in the country, capable
of providing the much needed enlightenment and capacity
needed to shade off the emerging every real and potential
threat to our new democracy. We are more than ever so
determined to do our utmost with the action space
presently created to ensure in our little way, that our
youths and indeed society in general are educated in
democracy and its principle, to enable us all willingly
and joyously play pivotal part in the endless adventure of
a free government. By this report, we are indeed,
re-dedicating ourselves to the hard work that freedom
requires.
IHRHL?s activities in 2000 evolved around major areas
namely: human rights education, human rights and
documentation center, Information gathering, Legislative
Advocacy, Public Interest Advocacy, Women?s Human Rights
Advocacy, Economic and Social and the Extractive
Industries, coalition building/networking , institutional
strengthening and development. IHRHL provided intervention
in and increasingly featured more prominently on issues of
national concern, such as electoral reform, constitutional
reform, freedom of information bill, independence of the
judiciary, death penalty, access to justice, corruption,
conflict prevention/peace building, gender equity,
economic and social rights and the extractive industries,
good governance and human rights observance.
Partnership building has remained our strategy for
effective implementation of our work. In that regard, we
continued to build new partnerships with individuals,
organizations and institutions of relevance to us. This
human rights practice exposed us to new methods of work
and ideas. The invitation we received from various
organizations for meetings, seminars, workshops,
conferences and training courses were very enriching. We
received new memberships, and our trained paralegals were
able to open up new offices.
Of particular significance this year was our ability to
bring representatives of international and local NGOs to
the city of Port Harcourt. Where their presence in our
International Workshop on ESC Rights and Extractive
Industries showed how timely was the chosen new area of
work. This workshop, generated public interest in matters
that seriously touch on the environment and social
responsibility requirements for those who work and make
profit in the extraction industries.
Indeed, the success of our work and realization of our
plans could not have been possible without the support,
advice, participation, moral, financial and material
contribution of our donors, associates, advisory board,
board of management, trustees, partners, staff, volunteers
and well-wishers. I cannot conclude this without
commending the support we received from: the National
Endowment for Democracy, Washington DC, The Swedish NGO
Foundation for Human Rights, The MacArthur Foundation,
Chicago and the United Nations Development Programme. The
professional competence of IHRHL staff and the rigorous
progress of project implementation the terrain of the
Niger Delta is worthy of special commendation. I extend my
thanks to all of you, for bringing to a gradual reality,
the idea of building an institution for democracy and
freedom strengthening that would outlive all of us in the
Niger Delta Region and Nigeria.
We have learnt through our struggle since the worst
military tyranny in Nigeria that the oppressor never
voluntarily gives freedom to the oppressed. That we have
to work for it. That freedom is never given to anybody.
That privileged and corrupt leaders never give up their
privileges without strong resistance. Yes, we learnt that
there is something in this universe that justifies William
Cullen Bryant in saying, ?Truth crushed to earth, will
rise again? and Carlyle in saying, ?No lie can live
forever.?
Together, we are making a difference. We shall overcome.
Morning comes,
Anyakwee Nsirimovu
Executive Director
Port Harcourt, March 2003.
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK
MISSION: Through educational activities, the IHRHL
contributes to the creation of a vibrant community-based
human rights workers, dedicated to advancing democracy,
human development and social justice, in the Niger Delta
region and around Nigeria.
VISION: We the IHRHL want to be known for the excellence
of our participatory education activities and for our
ability to maintain a nationwide network of committed
human rights workers in mutual education for alternative
development in freedom.
OPERATING PRINCIPLES: The IHRHL?s basic framework of
reference is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
International Covenants and the African Charter on Human
and Peoples Rights.
The IHRHL fulfils its mission primarily through
participant-centred human rights education programmes and
activities, and through Nigerian and international
networking.
The IHRHL is a non-partisan organization.
The IHRHL is accountable to the communities it serves, its
funding partners and its working partners.
VALUES
OPENNESS: We are animated by a spirit of enquiry; we are
open to ideas and feedback from all those with whom we
come into contact in order to continuously improve our
ability to fulfill our mission and embody our vision.
INNOVATION: We stay at the forefront of the evolution in
human rights so that our education programmes are always
relevant; we take pride in our cutting-edge participatory
education methods.
INTEGRITY: We conduct our business in transparent way. All
Board members and staff are expected to meet the highest
standards of personal integrity in representing the
IHRHL.
JUSTICE: We want to be just and fair in our internal
affairs and in our interactions with working partners and
other stakeholders. Our programmes are accessible and
non-discriminatory.
COOPERATION: We are convinced that we can make advances in
the field of human rights only through cooperation within
our organization and with all those who share our goals.
We want to be noted for our co-operative spirit. We extend
our solidarity to all those who are dedicated to the
advancement of democracy and human rights.
SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL
BACKGROUND
The last three years of elected civilian government in
Nigeria have witnessed an alarming spate of violence and
egregious human rights violations. In over fifty separate
and documented incidents, over ten thousand Nigerians have
reportedly been victims of extra-judicial executions at an
average of over 200 executions per incident. Security
agents, acting in most cases on direct orders of the
government, have been responsible for many of the deaths
as well as accompanying rapes, maiming and torture of
thousands of women, the aged, children and other
defenseless civilians. The International Committee of the
Red Cross estimates that hundred of thousands of people
have been internally displaced and scattered in several
makeshift refugee camps without adequate food and medical
supplies, and in most unhygienic and deplorable
conditions.
When the civilian government was reinstated in Nigeria in
May 1999, those living in Nigeria, especially the long
deprived rural dwellers, in the Niger Delta region, the
source of Nigeria?s oil wealth and revenue, were full of
expectations of ?democratic dividend? which have eluded
them for decades under successive military dictatorships.
The early 1990s saw a cycle of protest and repression
which led to the complete militarization of large parts of
the region. There was no area of the core delta that did
not get its share of military repression. But the
situation eased under the new government. That did not
stop the widespread deployment of army, navy and
paramilitary forces at oil facilities across the region.
It was only five months into Obasanjo?s new government,
that he ordered soldiers to destroy the town of Odi in
Bayelsa state, killing hundreds of people and razing down
its entire building, in exception of one bank and a church
building. Both national and international observers of the
Odi massacre have oftentimes referred to it as genocide.
Deep at the heart of the agitation, which oftentimes
results to the use of violence by the youths, is the
structural violence which is visited on the unsuspecting
people of the region: extreme poverty in the midst of
plenty. Vastly increased sums of money flew into the
region through state and local governments, under a new
?derivation formula? that requires at least 13 percent of
the oil revenue to be returned to the states where it is
produced, from the federal government. In the name of the
Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), further
billions of naira have found its dwelling place in the
states of the region, originally aimed at sustainable
human development of the area.
Ordinary people living in the very oil bearing communities
that are directly favoured with environmental degradation,
saw little if any benefit from these funds. Gross and
attested human rights violations, especially in the area
of economic, social and cultural rights have not
disappeared by reason of our new ?democracy?. If anything,
this democracy, devoid of popular participation, seem to
be widening the gap through unaccountable governance and
unimaginable level of corruption, which has become the
rule rather than the exception. This is in nobody?s
interest in the short or long term. Certainly not in the
interest of foreign investors in the extractive sector who
are forced into the receiving end, oftentimes by reasons
of government deliberate pursuit of policies that engender
bad governance and poverty.
Also worthy of note is the statement of President Obasanjo
to youth representatives, who met him during his visit to
the region in June 1999. While in a heated meeting in Port
Harcourt at the time, Obasanjo told the representatives to
shut up, that he alone knew what the problems of the Niger
Delta were, and he alone knew how to go about solving
them. What the people badly needed were jobs, education,
an end to ecological warfare, soothing words to the effect
that all these would be provided. What they wanted to see
was a clearly thought out policy framework, worked out by
the new government with their participation, that would
begin to tackle these age-old problems head-on. But they
got political violence in return. The challenge we faced a
very violent prone regime was to effectively engage in
creating additional impulse against autocracy and bad
governance through our community and non-community based
activities in the region.
One of the most significant problems in the Niger Delta is
the way it has become the laboratory for numerous policy
invention that are hardly thought through by government
officials and development professionals. Successive
governments have put in place different policy instruments
to specifically address the Niger Delta issue since the
pre-independence era. These policies have failed to
achieve the objectives leading to their establishment,
first because they were imposed without collective
ownership by the Delta people and second, because they
were primarily reactive to particular issues and were
temporary palliatives without any serious consideration
for human development in the Delta.
To illustrate the above assertions, the 1958 Niger Delta
Development Board and the post-independence Niger Delta
Development Authority were reactive attempts to allay
minority fears strongly captured in the Willinks?
Commission Report. Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development
Commission (OMPADEC) was largely, albeit not exclusively a
reaction to the crisis in Ogoni-land and the growing
inequality in the Delta. It was corruption ridden and died
a natural death without contributing to the development of
the area. The recently approved Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC) is itself a reaction to the variegated
minority fears in the whole of the Delta, which is seen to
threaten the corporate integrity of the nation.
The same is true of the various poverty alleviation and
?development? schemes that are national. DFRRI, NDE, PBN,
FEAP and Petroleum Trust Fund ? all of which were recently
merged into the National Agricultural Development Bank by
the Obasanjo administration. These were all stop-gap
limited reactions by the Babangida and Abacha regimes to
growing cries of Nigerians about the need to humanize the
Structural Adjustment programmes that had destroyed the
fabric of the society. They were all conceived in a
non-participatory manner with little or no consultation
with the target beneficiaries, completely lacking in
accountability and transparency to the communities, and
consequently but inevitably lacked legitimacy with the
people.
Since May 1999, more revenues has been accruing to the
Niger Delta state governments from the federation
accounts, and massively too from internally generated
revenues. The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as
at February 2003 had received from the Federal Government
the sum of 32 billion naira. Rivers State government is
known to have received the following sum from the
Federation Account alone: 1999 ? N6,998,819,875;
2000-29,822,499,102. Internally generated revenue, in
addition to taxes and rents from extractive industries and
others run into billions both at state and local
government levels.
It is under this kind of environment that IHRHL carried
out its activities. It is important to note that high
rates of human rights violations are symptoms of poverty.
In a developing country like Nigeria, judicial processes
are poorly managed, funded, poory coordinated and
susceptible to corrupting influences. As a direct result,
public confidence in the justice is undermined. Economic,
social, and political conditions render the justice system
irrelevant to the people?s needs who are ignorant of their
rights, formal laws and procedures of the systems. There
is an urgent need to access social and economic justice in
the Niger Delta region for a wider section of the
population particularly the rural dwellers. For the
region, accessing this kind of justice is a process and
IHRHL is proud to be part of this process.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES IN BRIEF
IHRHL have dutifully and timely submitted its detailed
individual progress and final reports to its partners in
accordance with their specific guidelines and
requirements. What we offer here is a gist of what the
projects is all about.
Sustainable Human Development Project (SHDP)
The Sustainable Human Development Project is fundamentally
about reconciling development and the environmental
resources on which the Niger Delta society depends. It was
a clearly new departure from our civil and political
rights centred activities over the years. The Swedish NGO
Foundation for Human Rights, Stockholm, through her
tireless Senior Programme Personnel, Ms. Rose-Marie Asker,
based on her visits to our field of activities in the
region became a catalyst for this departure. This project
therefore is a follow-up of a pioneer international
workshop on ?Extraction Industries and ESC Rights?
sponsored by the NGO Foundation in collaboration with the
IHRHL in Nov. 2000. The international activity gathered
activists from all the continents of the world, identified
based on their practical experiences in the field of
economic and social rights advocacy.
SHP was about regaining the dignity of all those who have
lost it due to a lack of food, health and a healthy
environment, education, housing, social security, work or
a quality of life that embodies and perpetuates their
culture in the Delta region of Nigeria. It is designed to
enable NGOs and other groups in the field ? both local and
international to benefit from researched scientific data
which would not only enable domestic and international
campaign but also ensure that the poor and other
disadvantaged groups are able to claim their economic,
social and cultural entitlements as a matter of right.
For the first time in the region, a non-governmental
organisation shall be providing scientific data in the
area of the impact of environmental pollution on the right
to health for effective advocacy purposes within and
outside the region. Before now, it has been the oil
multinationals that could fund projects of this nature,
but keep its finds and data top secret. They doctor same
and present to the unsuspecting public what they think
they should have access to. Infact, the change of
methodology of work towards a practical investigation, has
not only empowered groups and individual but have changed
the face of activism in the region. Funders to whom we
have recounted our new initiative, are gradually moving
away from the realm of political and civil rights to take
economic and social rights seriously in the region. There
is a new wave of interest in the region, based on the
ongoing work that the Foundation has been supporting under
this project.
In the new era, this project is needed in the region more
than ever. Its arms must reach to many communities from
the states that yearn for our empowerment presence. At the
end of the day, it is about realizing human capacity; that
is the human person in this region becoming the person
that he or she was created to be. Such vision as was
brought by the Foundation involves moving from
assistantship to empowerment. It means moving away from a
policy in which people living in poverty are considered
objects of intervention, to one which they become the
protagonists of their own development. That is the key.
Beyond our expectation, the impact of this project
activities has drawn the attention of both the
institutions of democracy and multinationals towards the
grievances of the people of the region, because deep down,
data speaks louder than anything. We urge the Foundation
to continue to see this project through in a sustainable
manner, so that its contribution at the end, would bear
immense and invaluable reward for our target audience.
Societal Accountability Project
We live in a very corrupt environment. The weakness of
civil society in checking this malady has not helped
matters. Our awareness at the IHRHL has shown that our new
democracy requires governments at all levels that are not
only accountable to their citizens but also subject to
restraint and oversight by other public agencies. Indeed,
the survival of our democracy, we seriously believe
depends upon both elite and mass commitment to its norms
and procedures. There is no more common and profound
obstacle to the consolidation of our democracy than
widespread corruption, human rights violations,
illegality, and abuses of authority by holders of state
power at all levels. These patterns of arbitrary and
particularistic behaviour has undermined public esteem for
democracy and discouraged citizens from committing
themselves to legal rules and constitutional procedures of
democracy. It has remained business as usual under the
Obasanjo administration, inspite of his anti-corruption
regime that is only on paper.
It is because men and women in government are no angels
that this project became most necessary. By this project
we were trying to remind us that accountability is one of
aspect of rule of law, by which public officers are made
answerable for their actions within a pre-established
legal and constitutional framework that sets the limits
and powers of state agencies and government organs. What
we find in Nigeria instead is a legacy of weak,
personalist although extensive and over bureaucratized
states with a decreasing redistributive capacity and
alarmingly lacking in transparency or operative mechanisms
of accountability. It is in this context that we see that
the role of the judiciary gains relevance in contemporary
endeavours to acquire regime legitimacy and a meaningful
form of democratic practice.
This is a programme on human rights advocacy and
monitoring. Specifically it was to monitor corruption
within the lelgal justice system in Rivers State by
organizing local residents to examine and interact with
local judicial officials and local courts. Tools employed
included community forums, study tours of local courts and
town hall meetings with local judicial officials. The idea
is to demystify the courts and how they function and allow
local residents to know and interact with court officials
responsible for meting out justice. Our bottom-up approach
is not meant to merely supplement the top-down methods. In
our unjust society, we have maintained that justice will
not be handed down by reformed state institutions; it must
be won by people asserting their rights and demanding
their due.
This project was supported by the National Endowment for
Democracy (NED) that has over the years kept IHRHL
activities afloat and meaningful by reason of its
institutional support for our personal costs etc.
COMMUNITY-BASED PARALEGAL PROJECT
The focus of IHRHL paralegal activities is the rural
communities of the Niger Delta region, that have been the
hardest hit by long term force of military dictatorship
and unaccountable governance, with its bleak, structural
poverty. Ignorance of the law and human rights principles,
much less notions of government accountability, in rural
Niger Delta is endemic and permeates every area of life.
This ignorance is compounded by decades of grimly
repressive governance and its harsh enforcements, which
have effectively silenced millions of citizens who still
wonder what change is all about.
At the community level we build foundations for government
to gain legitimacy, to allow government to occupy its
proper function of representing its people. Building
responsive and accountable government remains our most
important object. To achieve this goal we put the
paralegal programme in place as a movement towards
building skills for self-sufficiency of individuals and
their communities. In many parts of the region, violence
has become an accepted remedy to problems between
government and communities, communities and multinational
corporations. Coupled with the strategy of
non-participation, negotiations between government, oil
multinationals and communities are meaningless if ordinary
Nigerians in this part do not possess the skills required
for self-determination.
The antidote to ignorance and political impotence is
education. This cannot be bland, repetitious education,
but rather the acquisition of knowledge and skills, which
build on themselves to delve critically into the issues
and foundations to structure a Nigeria accountable to all
of its peoples. The paralegal programme is about legal
education and access to legal systems in an informal
manner, which are integral to the foundation required for
a stable, democratic and tolerant society accountable to
all of its people.
300 paralegals were trained under this bridging grant from
again one of our traditional partner the John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago through their
office in Abuja, Nigeria. The expansion of this activity
with the newly trained in the region has impacted
positively on the environment. For one, it has extended to
our mobilisation capabilities to a wider target audience
throughout the region. It also means that our access to
justice programmes shall be benefited by a lot more people
in the region.
CIVIC EDUCATION PROJECT
The challenge of this project was to advance democratic
values and deal with the requirements of political opening
in Nigeria through civic mobilisation of the populace.
Popular participation to check accountability and
transparency was its ultimate result. Its activities
included education towards the liquidation of our
authoritarian past, through town hall meetings, listening
sessions, community forums and outreach through radio,
television, posters and stickers.
The Listening session is our innovation whereby we made it
possible for elected officials who are unable to visit
their peoples in a town hall meeting manner are forced
more or less to meet their people in their house of
assembly chambers. The town hall meetings helped in
formulation of concrete agenda of action for both
councillors and members of the houses of assemblies. The
activities impacted most positively by way of monitoring
and checking the activities and performance of elected
officials at all levels by the electorates. People learnt
that asking questions of their elected officials is a
veritable instrument of accountability.
OTHER NATIONAL/REGIONAL ACTIVITIES
Documentation Centre
The IHRHL operates a Documentation Centre that houses
human rights, legal and other social sciences book/journal
resources which are freely used by members of the general
public. During the year under review, the Centre had not
only been fully professionalized but acquired new current
material from both within and outside the country. The
Centre is probably the richest in terms of stock of human
rights documentation in the Niger Delta region, the
Universities in the region inclusive. It has become home
for students, researchers and legal practitioners who find
it a place to locate material needed for their work. It
has also been useful for international visitors, seeking
information about the Niger Delta region and human rights
situation in Nigeria and Africa generally. An average of
100 persons visit the documentation for one enquiry or the
other daily.
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
This is the quarterly human rights magazine that
stockpiles primary human rights developments in the region
and Nigeria generally, for both domestic and international
consumption. The Defender has remained a veritable
information disseminator, and the only type of its kind
within the region. It is well sought for by members of the
general public, politicians, policymakers and civil
society bodies. The demand for the Defender has always
outstripped what we could afford to supply by reason of
shortfall in fund. In an environment where government more
or less owns and hurds information, the need for an
independent magazine of this nature cannot be
overemphasized. About 20,000 of the Defender are printed
and distributed annually. In reality and in view of the
demand for it, that number ought to represent a quarterly
distribution, if we had the fund that we need.
PUBLIC INTEREST ADVOCACY
The Public Interest Advocacy Unit of the IHRHL is the
engine room for effecting our ultimate ambition that
access to justice and due process of law rules the day in
a democracy. Presently the four lawyers in this unit are
saturated and overburdened with work. As we traverse our
communities with various community-based empowerment
activities, the result is that empowered people, realising
that there is another avenue for justice, rather than
resorting to violence, cramp the office with loads and
loads of case work. Some very simple to handle, others
most tedious and time consuming. It is also under this
activity that test cases are undertaken to check the
substandard activities of employers of labour, especially
the multinational oil companies, that not only prefers
cheap labour but employ as casuals, which leaves the
people employed without any protection nor welfare. On the
whole, we have about 30 of such cases in court presently.
That is in exclusion of over 150 cases settled out of
court during the period. This unit suffers from lack of
fund for its effective delivery of services.
WOMEN?S HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION
This region is well known for its harmful traditional
practices against women. Violence against women here is
also on the increase, engendered by reasons of poverty in
some cases. The polluted environment also violate the
women of the region because they are close to land. As a
result of oil extraction in the regions communities, women
have paid some huge price. This has included rape,
prostitution, child pregnancy and exposure to sexually
transmitted and deadly diseases. This unit continues to
engage in serious and practical human rights empowerment
programmes with women and men as individuals and groups.
There is also a school activity under this, whereby the
young ones in schools are introduced to human rights and
sexuality education. There are presently 20 school clubs
which resulted from this particular activity. In all 150
activities in both rural and urban centres were carried by
this unit during the year, by way of workshops and
community forums.
RESEARCH/INFORMATION GATHERING
This unit on daily basis gather and collate human rights
and democracy information for use internal and external
uses. The professional staff under this unit are directly
responsible for monitoring and reporting the activities of
governments and other public agencies in the region. The
information gathered are used in various ways, sometimes
as press statements, bulletins, compact updates and for
purposes of our annual reports and storage at the
documentation centre. Presently the Unit is coordinating
our external consultant?s work on scientific examination
of the impact of oil pollution on the right to health
under the Swedish NGO Foundation funded project. Numerous
material produced by this unit could be found at the
documentation centre for public consumption.
NETWORKS/COALITIONS
The IHRHL coordinates the activities of the Transition
Monitoring Group (TMG), Electoral Reform Network, Citizens
Forum for Constitutional Reform and National Coalition on
Penal Reform, Legislative Advocacy Network, Coalition on
Abrogation of Death Penalty, Coalition on Violence Against
Women in the South/South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The
IHRHL have continued to play most remarkable role based on
the immense responsibilities that the same bestows on her.
In the period under review, series of programme activities
and meetings were slated, which we indeed, participated
effectively. The IHRHL based on its solid foundation
continues to play leadership role within the civil society
organisation ? regional, national and international.
During the same period, the IHRHL organised one
international workshop and 25 other regional
workshops/trainings for its target audience. Information
and material on these activities may be obtained from our
national secretariat at no cost whatsoever.
MEETINGS
IHRHL held its regular Administrative and Project
Implementation Meetings during the period. The Board
meetings were held quarterly. An annual general meeting
for the period was held successfully. It was attended by
over 85 percent of our associates. The year ended with the
Annual Staff Retreat which analysed programme achievement,
impact, constraints and planned activities for the year
2003.
VISITORS
We were honoured with more than 200 visitors during the
period. These included high ranking officials like First
and Secretaries from Embassies, high level government
officials, representatives of donor agencies,
international organisations, local and international
media, UN agencies, civic leaders, representatives of
international NGOs, researchers, religious leaders,
student bodies, and the academia. Municipal and global
issues were discussed.
HUMANITY HOUSE
Rent payments for befitting office accommodation for our
work is sky-rocketing on annual basis. We had come to a
decision to build our own secretariat to be known and
called Humanity House. We have acquired substantial parcel
of land for this purpose. We are still soliciting for fund
to enable us commence work on it. None has come. For an
organisation that must continue to do the work that we
have started when we are all gone, deserve this kind of
accommodation. We solicit support for a permanent
accommodation.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES IN THE NEW ERA
THE IHRHL HAS SET OUT THE FOLLOWING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
TO BE ACHIEVED WITHIN THE FIVE YEARS.
GOAL 1
The IHRHL will be recognized leader in the area of
participatory development, economic and social rights and
the extraction industries, resource tracking, good
governance and judicial accountability within the Human
Rights community.
OBJECTIVES
An improved methodology for the National Human Rights
Activism.
AT least two other well developed innovative education
modules adapted to specific target groups
AT least two workshop or conference on an emerging human
rights issue.
GOAL 2
The IHRHL will have strengthened its relationships with
key government and non-government institutions in Nigeria
and in other regions of the world, in furtherance of its
Legislative and Judicial Advocacy Programme.
OBJECTIVES
A well develop electronic network
MORE active partnerships with at least 90% of the NGOs and
community-based groups.
JOINT programmes and/ or links with governmental or
government-mandated organizations
AT least three special activities in regions of Nigeria
?training of paralegals etc.
Working links established with the African Commission,
European Commission, and the American Commission on Human
Rights, and seek avenues of co-operation in research and
experience in their work-programmes.
Working links established with the local government, state
and national Assemblies and respective committees for an
enhanced working relationship un the area of democratic
consolidation.
GOAL 3
The IHRHL will receive at least 10% of its funding from
sources other than donors
OBJECTIVES
A strong and effective fund-raising strategy
A plan for the diversification of our revenue base
A fund-raising drive.
Sale of research work/publications
GOAL 4
The IHRHL will have reviewed its administrative structure
and decision making processes, its administration and
examined the possibility of expansion to other parts of
Nigeria for greater efficiency and effectiveness. Branch
network increased and a liason office in the Federal
Capital Territory of Abuja.
OBJECTIVES
An active presence in Abuja, the seat of federal power in
Nigeria. A purpose-built office block that save enormous
cost of rent from our budget. 90% of Board members
actively involved in at least one area of the IHRHL?s
activities. A new administrative structure in place, as
well as revised internal polices and procedures
Meeting the criteria for ECOSOC accreditation
GOAL 5
The IHRHL will be better known across Nigeria and abroad
in the human rights community, through well targeted
public relation activities and the judicious distribution
of its publications.
OBJECTIVES
A strong and effective communication and public relation
strategy
A well targeted distribution of Human Rights Defender
Quarterly Magazine
Publication of an (Academic) International Human Rights L
aw Journal
Greater visibility through the celebrations for Human
Rights / Democracy Day every 10th of December each year.
A high quality publication on the IHRHL, its mission,
vision and activities
A well managed electronic network
A significant number of Board members officially
representing the IHRHL in human rights related events
NEW FEATURES
The 2000 outreach programmes marked a radical departure
from the activity delivery model which had prevailed in
the past, and was thus viewed as a pilot project. The
shift from a traditional teacher-centred approach was a
conscious decision on the part of the IHRHL, based on the
firm conviction that human rights education must reflect
human rights principles. More importantly, the IHRHL was
convinced that a practical participant-centred methodology
would ensure a greater impact and more tangible results.
The new approach of the programme required participants to
take an active learning role and work as much as possible
from there own experience. Each participant is expected to
prepare in advance write-up on their environment/group,
which shall become the integration point of their
learning.
The programme focused on human rights standards and tools,
popular education techniques etc. A series of panel
discussions and lectures were provided with the factual
and conceptual elements which were developed in group
working sessions.
Parallel to the programme, special seminars, events, films
and informal discussion groups were organized. A variety
of social activities were planned to foster a community
spirit and help participants feel welcome in a human
rights family. Major emphasis were placed on community
building at all times.
CONCLUSION
IHRHL strongly believes that it is everyones
responsibility to promote the promotion and protection of
human rights and democratic governance. Our programmes in
this regard had impacted positively especially in our
rural oil producing communities in ways that it is
impossible to quantify. Being there, one realizes that
life pattern and attitude has changed markedly. We have
through our community-based paralegal activism continue to
make mobilisation the the rural populace, knowledge of law
and human rights and access to justice meaningful. Human
rights and freedoms has become part of the language of the
people.
This impact could never have been realized without the
contribution of all of you out there who have been
selfless in giving us advice, criticism, encouragement as
well as moral and financial support.
As we enter the new project year, we need to strengthen
and develop our institutional capacity. We must work in
tandem in order to remain the champion of the peoples
rights ? access to justice, economic, social and cultural
rights, rule of law and good governance in the Niger Delta
region and Nigeria as a whole.
IHRHL SECRETARIART
Anyakwee Nsirimovu Executive Director
Ebere Ohabuenyi (Advocay)
Chisa Akaninwo (Ms.) Programme Administrator
Ngozi Anyanwu Programme Accountant
Chinyere Kalu Esq. (Mrs.) Programme Officer
(Access to Justice)
Rukvebe Onoyibve Esq. Programme Assistant (Conflict
Transformation)
(Economic and Social Rights Advocacy)
Innocent Wehiuzo (Conflict)
Neeka Nornu (ecosoc)
Felix Ohale (Manager)
Vivian Etoniru (Women)
Nsikkak Ibanga Coordinator,
Akwa Ibom State Office
Barr. Ebere Ohabuenyi Coordinator (Abuja Office)
Kelechi Aguocha Programme Officer (Documentation)
(Information Gathering)
Uloma Adiuku Computer Operator
Yerika Tigri Office Assistant
Lucky Morrison Security
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