Group trains Nigerian Women Business Network on Advocacy Engagement

Nkechinyere Ewa-Okpara

Neighbourhood Initiative for Woman Advancement, NIWA with support from the OXFAM and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAG, has organised a one-day core advocacy capacity training for Association of Nigerian Women Business Network, ANWBN, Ebonyi State chapter.

The training took place at Abakaliki on Friday. NIWA is implementing the project funded by OXFAM through its partner CISLAG which is also the secretariat of the Tax Justice and Governance Platform, TJ&GP in Nigeria with a view to strengthen the capacity of ANWBN and TJ&GP to advocate for tax administration system that would be equitable for women in business in the state.

Nancy Oko-Onyia, the founder of NIWA, said that the programme was aimed at strengthening the state chapter members on gender and tax equity and transparency and ensuring mutual leverage on the knowledge and experiences of all partner organisations.

She noted that the capacity training would clarify linkages and roles of other members of the collective in the strategy towards contributing to trade, tax, and investment policy reforms that enable the government to promote inclusive and sustainable development for the benefit of female small and medium scale business owners, their communities and domestic economies.

She maintained that the project, which is currently engaging women in business in Ebonyi and Lagos states would activate the peopleā€™s agency (especially women) who suffer unfair taxation by strengthening their knowledge, capacity and consciousness; support them to advocate for a shift in tax policy through the use of evidence and working within a collective.

Chinedu Bassy a resource person, urged the women in business to observe their collective impact while pushing forward the strategies aimed at making progress on the identified issues bordering their network, which included a collection of multiple statutory and non-statutory taxes, levies and fees as a problem facing their members across the nation.

ā€œAlways review your issue or policy ask and clarify your cluster objective ā€“ there is a need to examine and define your cluster intent and commitment, ensuring you have a collective impact, a set of principles and conditions for tackling complex social problems that cannot be solved by a single organisation.

“Also, try to understand policy advocacy; by having a clear understanding of what is and what is not policy advocacy; be familiar with understanding with the key principles of public policy advocacy and understand the role of a policy brief in advocacy network,ā€™ā€™ Basi advised.

The Ebonyi ANWBN members, during the interaction session, said they formed the association to promote business owned by women in the state.

According to Okereke Chinagorum, the state coordinator ANWBN iumbrella body that units major registered women’s organisations in Ebonyi State to come together to promote women owned business in Ebonyi

She said ANWBN mandate include Advocating for the girl child in Ebonyi, leverage on existing institutions to achieve the different goals of member organisations, as well as to unit, and synergize to tackle issues affecting the girl child.

Mrs Okereke noted that some of the contextual issues facing the association were women-owned businesses in Ebonyi lacking funds to boost their business.
Adding that they have limited access to information on taxation and poor access to law and policies on women’s business development in Ebonyi State.

In a remark, Eseni Chima from.the state IGR urged the women in business to try to identify what they pay for as taxes to enable the state government to guide them on how to go about it, emphasizing the need for the group to pay a courtesy visit to the state Chairman IGR board to address the issue.

On his part, Nwachukwu Allison, from the State Ministry of Markets and Parks Development, said the state government remains committed to addressing the plights women in business and urged the group to remain steadfast

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