A HISTORY OF BAOBAB

BAOBAB For Women's Human Rights is a not for profit, non-governmental women's human rights organization, which focuses on women's legal rights issues under the three (3) systems of law - customary, statutory and religious laws in Nigeria. The organization evolved from an ad hoc group of activists, social scientists, lawyers, and specialists in Muslim laws and Arabic who were responsible for executing the Women and Laws Nigeria project, under the auspices of the International Solidarity Network of Women Living Under Muslim Laws from 1993 to 1996. This three-year multi disciplinary research project on women's legal rights generated a wealth of data which, in order to be efficiently utilized, needed an organizational structure from which outreach work could be planned and executed in the states under study. In 1996, BAOBAB as presently constituted formally came into being.

BAOBAB operates from a national office in Lagos and with outreach teams in 14 states across Nigeria. These are: Adamawa, Borno, Edo, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara. The organization works with women, legal and paralegal professionals, human rights NGOs and members of the general public.

BAOBAB's stated mission is "to promote women's human rights principally via improving knowledge, exercise and development of rights under religious laws, customary laws and statutory laws." We believe our activities during the past few years illustrate our commitment to this mission.

BAOBAB's OBJECTIVES:

The objectives of BAOBAB are to:

· promote knowledge, development and exercise of women's rights
· protect and defend the rights of women
· raise awareness of women's human rights, abuse of these rights and other legal issues as they affect women, with a view to determining policies which can best promote all human rights
· further the construction of truly universal and relevant human rights
· support and strengthen women's and other human rights focused organizations and individual activists

BAOBAB's STRATEGIES:

The following strategies are employed in order to achieve the objectives of the organization:

· outreach activities (public awareness, paralegal training, etc)
· carrying out social and legislative advocacy
· publishing, including but not limited to, books, pamphlets and posters
· ongoing comparative analysis of women's human rights activities in different societies (local, regional and international)
· interdisciplinary teaching
· popular education and training
· conducting research on women's human rights
· exchange and development of ideas
· disseminating information regarding women's human rights
· capacity building for other women's groups and NGOs through training, skills building etc.
· networking in Nigeria, within Africa and worldwide
· collaborating with like-minded organizations in mutually agreed campaigns and programmes.
· documenting legal issues as they affect women
· participating in academic discussions and serving as a research centre for women's rights in law
· furthering the appreciation and observance of women's rights through activities such as sponsoring training and education programmes