Gender and Security in Africa: The Nigerian Experience.

AfriCan Geopardy

In this episode, we discuss Gender and Security in Africa: the Nigerian experience with Ruth Okugbeni, the Acting Executive Director at the CLEEN Foundation www.cleen.org. Ruth's work focuses on improving the effectiveness of security and justice sector agencies through human rights-based approaches and improved accountability for better service delivery. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Education from the University of Ibadan, a Master of Arts Degree in Development Studies with a major in Social Policy from the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands. She is currently pursuing doctoral studies and research in Defence and Security Studies. The discussion clarifies why women are underrepresented in the security sector and makes recommendations on what can be done differently. Key insights from the discussion are that laws that promote gender discrimination were formulated during the colonial era. Therefore, as independent states, African nations must work to repeal those laws and take advantage of women and men's contributions in the security sector.