Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Nigeria (WILPF Nigeria) has launched its observation programme for the Osun State Election to be held on Saturday.
The programme is being implemented under the banner of Women’s Situation Room Nigeria (WSRN), which was established by UN Women, UNDP and WILPF Nigeria in 2014 to promote the peaceful conduct of elections the following year.
The programme builds on WILPF Nigeria’s activities in Osun State in recent months, including holding consultative sessions with women and youth from across the state to build capacity and mobilize support for non-violent elections.
The programme will include the deployment of election observers to polling units across the state in order to both observe the peaceful and orderly conduct of the election as well as track the representation of women in the electoral process. Observers will be assessing the gender-responsiveness of the election process based on a number of key indicators including: representation of women amongst observers, party officials, election officials, and security services; and ease of access to polling units.
WILPF Nigeria has also put a programme in place to track and report any incidents of election-related violence, both through its network of election observers as well as through a toll-free hotline and online form. Voters across the state are encouraged to report any incidents they witness on 0800-DIAL WSRN (0800-3425-9776) or www.wsrng.com/report so that they can be tracked and referred to the appropriate authorities.
Speaking about the launch of WILPF Nigeria’s observation program, Country Director of WILPF Nigeria and newly-elected International President of WILPF, Joy Onyesoh, said: “The elections in Osun State provide a litmus test for the national elections in just a few months’ time. It is crucial that women are adequately represented in the process and that any incidents of violence or intimidation are tracked, reported, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
