OBSTACLES TO THE UNITED NATIONS AS A COLLECTIVE SECURITY MECHANISM DURING THE IRAQ WAR, 2002-2005

ABSTRACT

This study looks at the obstacles of the UN as a Collective Security mechanism with reference to the 2002-2005 Iraq war. It looks at the concept of collective security as a technical term in the field of international relations and how it contributes to international peace and security. The UN played a role that was totally against its underlying principles because a Collective Security mechanism always prohibits the use of force or in one word war. The study gives a strong discussion on the obstacles that led to the war in Iraq and views on how such can be avoided in the future. The UN used force, an act that is considered antithetical to a Collective Security mechanism. Those obstacles that laid the impetus which later conglomerated and culminated to the UN Iraq war forms the focus of this study

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AN INCLUSION OF ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY IN NIGERIA’S FOREIGN POLICY

Background

The historical antecedents of Nigeria’s foreign policy owes much to the vision of Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister and Head of Government, October 1960 to January 1966, and can be located in his famous speeches during the immediate pre and post independence periods. These speeches include his statement in the House of Representatives on August 20, 1960; his Independence Day Address on October 1, 1960 and his Acceptance Speech on the occasion of Nigeria’s admission into the membership of the United Nations in New York on October 8, 1960. From the late 1950s especially from 1958 when he became head of the Self-government and when Nigeria’s Independence was slated for October 1, 1960, Balewa articulated in these speeches the fundamental principles that would guide Nigeria’s external relations after independence and the basis upon which the country would relate with other countries of the world, as well as what its posture would be towards international organizations.

Although a critical look on the speeches show the paramount importance that the government placed on continental and global issues, it can not be doubted that an overwhelming and significant emphasis was placed on African issues and problems. Thus, during his UN acceptance speech, Balewa stated that: So far I have concentrated on the problems of Africa. Please do not think that we are not interested in the problems of the rest of the world; we are intensely interested in them and hope to be allowed to assist in finding solutions to them through this organization, but being human we are naturally concerned first with what affects our immediate neighborhoods5 . Beyond these, Balewa ensured the effective realization of the newly independent country’s foreign policy after independence and was not quick in appointing a minister for the Ministry of External Affairs. It was not until 1961 that he appointed Hon. Jaja Nwachukwu as minister of foreign affairs and still ensured that his views of Nigeria’s foreign policy were upheld6 . Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives are a reflection of the country’s national interest. And every foreign policy is a dynamic process that is determined by the domestic needs and aspirations of the country coupled with certain practical economic, political and socio-cultural forces in the international environment7 . Therefore, the major goal of Nigeria’s foreign policy is to protect and to promote the country’s national interest. The objectives of Nigeria’s foreign policy are enshrined in Chapter 2, Section 19 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the rubric of Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, thus : promotion and protection of the national interest; promotion of African integration and support for African unity; promotion of international co-operation for the consolidation of universal peace and mutual respect among all nations and elimination of discrimination in all its manifestations; respect for international law and treaty obligations as well as the seeking of settlement of international disputes by negotiation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration and adjudication; and promotion of a just world economic orderDownload Full Material-N5000

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN ARMED CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN AFRICA. A STUDY OF NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE/INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Since 2009, the Boko Haram insurgency and the government’s military response has killed thousands and displaced more than three million people. Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of adults and children. Both Christians and Muslims have been victims of Boko Haram’s brutality. The most well known kidnapping case in international media in recent years is from 2014, where 276 mostly Christian female students were kidnapped from the Secondary School in the town of Chibok in Borno State. Borno State is the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency, which has affected northern Nigeria, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon.

The North East of Nigeria is a heavily patriarchal society, both in the predominantly Muslim community and in the Christian community. The region’s religious and cultural norms have defined women’s status through reproduction and largely confined them to a domestic role (despite their actual participation in agricultural tasks). Women’s access to education and formal labor market is restricted in a context where men as seen as breadwinners and women as caregivers. Women in the North East do not usually own land or homes which makes them vulnerable in case of divorce or widowhood. Northern women are furthermore politically marginalised. The representation of women in legislative state assemblies in the North East is extremely low. Cultural, religious and legal inequalities combined with poverty, has contributed to further marginalization with high female illiteracy, low school attendance and high rates of child marriage.

This context places restrictions on women’s mobility and plays on conservative gender ideologies, which are further acted on by the insurgency. This complicates peacebuilding and specifically the inclusion of women as full actors in prevention, protection, mediation and peace building including reconstruction.

Insurgency and counter-insurgency have dramatically changed the lives of thousands of women and girls, casting them voluntarily, by force or for lack of other options into new, evolving roles outside the domestic sphere. Some women fight against Boko Haram within local vigilante units, like the kungiyar marhaba (hunters’association) and notably the Borno state-based Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF). Others play critical roles in relief and reconciliation, while many displaced by fighting find themselves with new responsibilities as heads of households.

Despite the changing role of women, they are still largely marginalized from political decision-making processes.

Although northern Nigerian women (Christian as well as Muslim) are often are stereotyped as marginalized and portrayed as victims, the new roles women are taking in the context of violent terrorism is creating counter-narratives were women demonstrate agency through informal peacebuilding activities. Some women courageously buy time for men and boys to escape when Boko Haram attacks their community. They also hide men and boys, including dressing them as women/girls to facilitate their escapes, and smuggle them to safety. Although women have largely been excluded from peacebuilding discussions, women have negotiated with Boko Haram at the local level to have abductees returned and even offered themselves in exchange for their children. Others try to bring Boko Haram and government officials to the negotiating table such as Aisha Wakil and Hamsatu Al Amin have done.

Women in Borno have organised and participated in numerous marches, ralllies, campaigns and protests to draw attention to abuses, demand participation and action for peace. One of the most widespread actions they took involved the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG)campaign. Meant to be a one-day march in 2014 to bring back the Chibok school girls, the movement includes a call to bring all girls and women home. In addition to the work in the North East itself, for the last five years BBOG has held weekly sit in in Abuja, numerous events in Lagos, Ibadan, Kaduna and other cities of Nigeria, as well as mobilising an global virtual campaign. Women’s organisations are also mediating and building community support for returned abductees who are pregnant/having children whose fathers are/were in Boko Haram. There is a stigma, especially for women who have children born to Boko Haram fathers, even if the pregnancy was against their will. This is a major obstacle to reintegration into community life, which women actively work to change.

Advocacy against stigma and reintegration of abductees is a major topic on the agenda inside and outside of the camps, but also other issues are dealt with. These include: economic support for families whose fathers/husbands were killed, injured or missing, as well as humanitarian relief for those displaced in general; organising capacity-building for making a livelihood for women – sometimes being able to include also (very) small capital grants so that the trainees can actually use the capacity building; caring for ‘separated children’ including orphans, and working with ‘gang youth.’ This work is conducted by local women’s organizations such as Women in New Nigeria (WINN), the Borno Women’s Development Initiative, the University of Maiduguri Muslim Women’s Group, the Borno State Christian Association women’s wing, Hope in Legislative for the vulnerable and marginalised, Al Ansar, Hope for All Foundation. Some projects are also carried out by international NGOs active in the area, like the Norwegian Refugee Council and Search for Common Ground.

However, Nigerian women’s organisations, both national and especially state and local community associations, are badly under-resourced. In the current context in Borno state and local women’s organisations were doing the work described above with very small funds, often through donations through connections and contexts. When the INGOs came in, with their donor aid, they were given privileged access to IDP camps and set up their own projects and programmes – often ignoring the work that had been done previously and hiring (at much higher salaries) women to work on the INGO programmes.

The violence and brutality of Boko Haram is a major cause of insecurity, but there is also a growing concern among IDP women in the region regarding sexual exploitation and domestic violence. Household gender relations have changed as women’s economic contributions to household maintenance, to a large extent through informal work, became more clearly needed and more visible. This change in status has led to what a reported increase in violence against women within the household, because men feel their masculinity threatened.

But the violence also extends to the insecurity within the IDP camps. Supposedly a safe haven, corruption in the distribution of limited humanitarian supplies and abuse of power by members of security forces and camp staff inside the government controlled IDP camps renders women vulnerable. Stories emerging from our interviews confirm that security force members too often require sexual ‘favours’ before granting exit passes from camps to women or reduce their misappropriation of food and supplies intended for camp residents. IDP women inside the camps have started to voice their concerns about both coerced sex and ‘sex for money.’

Organisations like Baobab for Women’s Human Rights Borno state branch have taken this up and demanded accountability.

Poverty and inability to procure food for their families also made girls more vulnerable to child marriage and women increasingly vulnerable to solicitation and sexual exploitation in exchange for food or other assistance. Organizations such as the Centre for Women and Adolescents and Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative have been active against domestic violence and child marriage. For example, they try to sensitise the parent in the community on the harmful effects of child marriage, such as negative health consequences. Sensitizing sessions target parents as well as the girls at risk.

Added to that, the legal framework is lacking. None of the six states in the North East geo-political zone have enacted the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, passed at Federal level in 2015, after fourteen years of campaigning nationally by women’s rights and gender activists, including women from North East Nigeria. Legal reform is seen as an important step in protecting women from gender based violence.

Boko Haram has attacked both Christians and Muslims, convincing women’s organizations to combine forces to find ways to create more tolerant communities and build peace. A Network of Civil Society Organizations in Borno State (NECSOB), directed by a woman Fatima Shehu Imam, mobilized along inter-faith lines to provide humanitarian aid and assistance to victims of the insurgency. Women’s organizations throughout the northern states affected by Boko Haram attacks have built alliances across religious differences, including to protest abduction of girls and women.

Indeed, working across sectarian divides had long been a strategy of the women’s movement – both at national level as with their participation in the Legislative Advocacy Coalition Against Violence Against Women, for the passage of the 2015 Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP), and at state level in continuing to push for local state adoption of the federal VAPP Act, and, in peace work, for example, Borno state was the first to develop a State Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325 on ensuring women’s participation in peace-making. In all of these women in the North East (as elsewhere in Nigeria) have come together across religious and other identity lines to defend and promote women’s rights.

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