We’re Crowd Funding to Set Up the Women’s Legal Defence Trust Fund. Please Support Us
What?
The Women’s Crisis Center Owerri is establishing a Women’s Legal Defense Trust Fund to aggregate funds from a variety of sources and to make grants with those funds to lawyers and organizations litigating cases that can have a broad impact on the protection, expansion and interpretation of women’s rights in Nigeria.
Why?
Because
- Case law and apex court decisions have the potential to make sweeping changes in women’s rights protection and interpretation in Nigeria
- Women and the lawyers that represent them frequently lack the funds required to access the justice system and to sustain litigation for a long time and through appeals
- There are not enough public interest lawyers and NGO’s litigating women’s rights protection and interpretation
- We want to systematically and strategically develop and report a body of case law to enhance and institutionalize legislative and policy changes that improve women’s rights.
How?
Fundraising
Crowd Funding & Donations
- We believe that sustainable community and popular activism and action must be funded by the citizens
- Funds will be crowd sourced online and solicited from private and corporate donors
- Income, expenditure and bank statements will be publicly reported at regular intervals to be determined
Grants
- In addition we will apply and accept grants from international institutions and bodies that share our principles and values
- We will not take funds or grants from bilateral, multilaterals, or governments or their agents.
Publications
- We will invest in and publish online and hard copy law reports, periodicals, books and journal to support the long term sustainability of the fund
- We will invest in other social enterprise models that will support our goal and objectives
Grant Making
- We will make direct grants to lawyers litigating cases that meet our criteria to cover legal fees, transport and accommodation out of station as applicable.
- Cases will be chosen based on specific criteria that ensures they will have broad impact on a women and women’s rights nationally
- Grantees will be chosen for their integrity, commitment, creativity, and understanding of the legal issues involved
- Grantees will report at regular intervals and will be given capacity building, mentoring and advisory support
Who?
Women’s Crisis Center was established in 2000 in Owerri Imo state in response to a study that showed the highest incidence of domestic and sexual violence occurred there.
The center ran a women’s shelter, an innovative community program to end violence, provided pro bono legal services and had a resource library. The community program is in its tenth year while the resource center was moved to the federal capital for greater utility. The shelter was closed when it became evident that it did not fit the values of the community it served.
The WCC is managed by Lesley Agams, who will bring the experience she gained selecting and managing innovative social entrepreneurs and managing country programs for international organizations to the selection of the legal fund grant recipients and administration of the fund. She will be a trustee and the Executive Director of the fund.
Ms. Iheoma Obibi, executive director of Alliances for Africa has accepted to be one of three trustee of the legal fund. Ms. Obibi, herself an Asoka fellow, will bring over 20 years experience as a leading women’s rights activist to the fund. You can read more about Ms. Obibi and her work at http://www.alliancesforafrica.org
When?
As soon as possible!
We have already initiated the registration process with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Abuja
Our next target is to raise an initial target of NGN1million in 3 months to complete the registration and launch officially with a press conference on October 4, 2012 and organize a major fund raising event on November 27, 2012
What We Would Like You to Do
Help us to reach our targets. Kindly donate to our fund. Help us protect and expand women’s rights and protections before the law.
Till we can pay for a website with Interswitch capability we request that you send your kind donations to the Women’s Crisis Center. No amount is too small!
God bless you as you support women’s rights development.
Account Details:
Name of Bank: Guaranty Trust Bank Plc
Name of Account: Women’s Crisis Centre Owerri
Account Number: 0023731452
Go to indiegogo here
