A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF A 5-DAY RETREAT/NEC MEETING OF FOMWAN

A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF A 5-DAY RETREAT/NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (NEC) MEETING OF FEDERATION OF MUSLIM WOMEN’S ASSOCIATIONS IN NIGERIA

DATE: 8th December, 2013

PREAMBLE

The National Executive Council (NEC) Meeting of Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) which held between 4th and 8th December 2013 started with a Retreat for new National Executive Council (NEC) members. Ninety-six members from across the thirty-six States of the Federation including Federal Capital Territory (FCT) attended the meeting.  Several papers were presented at the Retreat to broaden the knowledge of members and prepare them for their new assignment.  The main papers were:

1. Leadership in Islam
2. Administration and Finance
3. Networking
4. Communication
5. Strategic Planning, among others

During the meeting, some observations were made by FOMWAN concerning the state of the Muslim women and girls in Nigeria.

OBSERVATIONS

1. That Leaders must strive to find relevance in their members/followers to succeed.
2. That Leaders need to be knowledgeable and dependable
3. That the problem of Security and Welfare in Nigeria are being coloured with religion
4. While commending the Federal Government for:
   1. the institution of Inter-faith Dialogue;
   2. issuance of circular on the use of hijab in schools;
   3. the signing and ratification of International Treaties and Declaration on Human Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); the NEC noted that Muslim women and girls are still being  harassed and deprived of observing the core-values of their religion especially the use of hijab and the teaching of Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK).
5. That the denial of the use of hijab is a common phenomenon across the nation; and discussion on this and consultation on the National Conference is on-going.

RECOMMENDATIONS

FOMWAN therefore recommends as follows:

1. That the Retreat be stepped-down at State and Local Government levels
2. That Leaders must be transparent, have the fear of Allah, and be just in their dealings
3. That the issue of hijab is a national one and FOMWAN demands that in the spirit of the protection of human rights and peaceful co-existence, Muslim women and girls should be allowed to practice their religion without intimidation.
4. FOMWAN demands that the Federal Government should abide by the provision of Section 38 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
5. That FOMWAN aligns itself with the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) on the issue of the National Conference.
6. That FOMWAN is disturbed by the incessant cases of rape and therefore calls on victims to speak out.
7. That offenders of rape should be seriously sanctioned.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, NEC members commended the leadership of FOMWAN for organizing the Retreat.  FOMWAN also commended the host state (Benue) of the 2013 FOMWAN Annual National Conference.  The hosting state (Osun) for the 2014 Annual National Conference was directed to speed up arrangement towards the success of the Conference.

COMMUNIQUE DRAFTING COMMITTEE MEMBERS