Ford foundation, Centre LSD launch grant to bridge gender imbalance gap

The Ford Foundation in collaboration with the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) have launched a N95m grant to bridge the gender imbalance gap in the natural resources management and women empowerment in Nigeria.

The Programme Coordinator, Centre LSD, Mrs. Victoria Udoh, who said this on Tuesday in Abuja at the formal launch of the Centre LSD BUILD Grant Project explained that the essence of the grant is to address the issue of women discrimination in the extractive industry.

He said the mineral and mining Act 2007 which guides processes and procedures in the sector is gender blind, resulting in alienation of women in company-community consultation and decision-making.

She explained that Centre LSD supports the government’s determination to reform the extractive industry and diversify revenue resources to include non-oil revenue, implementing the Strengthening Civic Engagement and Advocacy for Effective Natural Resources Governance in Nigeria Project.

She said that during the implementation of the project, emphasis was not placed on the gender dimensions of the impact and benefits of the extractives on humans as the effect on men varied from effects on women and children.

She also noted that women lose such influence when their livelihoods are lost because of extractive industry projects and that at the same time, men’s influence could increase significantly when they were employed and received incomes from extractive projects.

She said the Centre is commissioning a research on the forms and prevalence of gender-based violence in the extractive sector in Nigeria. The research will lay the basis for advocating for women’s inclusion and participation in the governance of natural resources in Nigeria.

On his part, the Executive Director, Centre LSD, Mr. Monday Osasah, said that the centre implemented a project called strengthening civic engagement and advocacy for effective natural resources governance in Nigeria from 2016.

He said that because of the successes registered in that project, the centre got a renewal from Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

He said the project essentially brings some form of equilibrium to the representation that we currently have so that everybody will take ownership of whatever that is happening in their domain particularly for mineral bearing communities.