This report documents the processes and outcomes of a needs assessment carried out with women in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria between the 12th and 20th of July 2002. The Niger Delta region has been subject to a three-pronged conflict between communities, oil companies and the Nigerian government, as well as facing conflict within communities. The work of the needs assessment was carried out as part of International Alert’s project ‘Enhancing the Capacity of Women Leaders of Community Organisations to Contribute Towards Peace Building in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria’, and forms part of International Alert’s strategy to support civil society groups in resolving conflicts. The principle objective of the project is to build the capacity of women leaders in the Niger Delta to enable them to contribute towards a non-violent resolution and transformation of conflict.
The needs assessment was conducted by a team of three women trainers, and was carried out in six states in the Niger Delta region. Through participatory, gender-perspective consultation, the assessment succeeded in gathering information for the design of an appropriate capacity building strategy, using women as a strategic focus group. The experience highlighted the critical potential of women as an organised force to achieve change in the Niger Delta region.
By the end of the assessment, through the use of questionnaires and extensive discussion, the women participants identified the following economic, social, ethnic, environmental and developmental issues as key challenges to their progress as women leaders and peace builders.
• Oil activities are severely changing the social, political and economic landscape of the Niger Delta, to the detriment of the inhabitants in the region
• High levels of material poverty and unemployment in the oil producing communities of the region exist in contrast to the large amounts of wealth produced by the oil operations
• Expected avenues of wealth and employment from the oil industry, and local or national governments are not available to local communities, and their absence had led to conflict
• Women are among the most impacted by oil operations; the operations have led to the destruction of women’s livelihoods through environmental degradation and health problems, as well as the marginalisation of women’s work generally
• Health facilities in the Niger Delta are extremely limited and under-funded
• The Federal, State and Local governments are all perceived as guilty by the communities for not ensuring that oil wealth is distributed in socially and economically beneficial ways
• Oil companies are viewed as culpable through their activities and obvious presence in the communities- for damaging the environment, using biased employment practices, making use of violent security forces and not investing more in local community development
• The partnership and collusion between oil companies and the Nigerian Government is viewed as corrupt, unjust and leading to violations of human rights on a number of levels
The findings of the needs assessment were instrumental in helping design a framework for training women to be peace builders in the future, both in terms of their own capacity-building needs as women and their conflict transformation skills. The training will take place with women from NGOs and communities in the Niger Delta during three workshops between July 2002 and November 2003. Based on the views expressed during the needs assessment, the following points will form the basis of the training. Capacity building must link women’s practical needs with strategic needs
• The strategic needs of women as peace builders will be enhanced by gender and women’s leadership training
• Training must include the transfer of conflict transformation/management skills
• Networks should be developed between communities in the Niger Delta to exchange information about oil company operations, to share experiences and develop human capital
• Organisational development strategies will also be included in the training, to help nurture new organisations and encourage cross-organisation collaboration
• The training process will empower/engage representatives from minority and majority groups in the region, regardless of class, religion, etc.
• Fundraising training will be undertaken with the aim of addressing the challenges faced when trying to acquire human, financial and technological capital among women’s groups.
• The ongoing ‘Training of trainers’ (TOT) will enable skills to be evaluated and reviewed, and will provide opportunities for sharing experiences and techniques to address current issues.
