Women empowerment through access to information: the strategic roles of non-governemental organizations in Nigeria.

Abstract

In the last few decades, there has been steady incresing awareness of the need to empower women in order to improve their socioeconomic status to be able to cope and also contribute effectively in this period of economic crisis. ATI (access to information) provision is a vital factor in empowerment, thus, many organizations, such as library,resource centres, and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have been invovled in empowering women in Nigeria. The paper examines the various programmes/services of the libraries, resource centres and NGOs in meeting the socio- economic and political information needs of women. It ascertains how women actually access the information provided by the NGOs (especially those that have information or documentation centres) and its imoact on thier soci-economic staus. It also identifies the challenges of the NGOs face in providing information to empower the women. The case study research method was adopted and data for the study collected from the women (users) and maagement and staff of the NGO centres through questionnarie and interview, while qualitative data gathered were reported. Majority of the women using the centres had to be taught how to use new technologies like computers, laptops, ipads, smart phones. The most used means of accessing information by the women was the radio and television, and person-to-person communication either by word of mouth or by telephone. The NGOs were discovered to be slowly but steadily gaining ground in educating the women and crating awareness among them to thier potentials to do better, to be empowered, and to stand up for thier rights and themselves anywhere. Constriants faced by the NGOs were mostly funding and getting enoguh materials, equipment and other media needed to further empower women. They wwere found to be a great source of inspiration to the women especially in the rural or less urban parts of the country. Gendered information was provided in the documentation units of the NGOs and efforts were ongoing in a few of them to translate some relevant materials to local languages.