‘What I learnt from women, children advocacy’

She is currently a Community Management Specialist, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) working in the Niger-Delta Local Development Programme (SSA). Goni is coordinating participatory planning and community management activities in the pilot states, local governments and local communities. “We are advocating for, and promoting awareness and understanding of, UNDP’s mandate, mission and purpose with special […]

She is currently a Community Management Specialist, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) working in the Niger-Delta Local Development Programme (SSA). Goni is coordinating participatory planning and community management activities in the pilot states, local governments and local communities.

“We are advocating for, and promoting awareness and understanding of, UNDP’s mandate, mission and purpose with special emphasis on democratization and citizen participation. This will enable us to ensure the provision of top quality advisory services and facilitation of knowledge building and management focus” the development expert said.

Goni, having hailed from Northern part of the country where children and women-related problems are enormous, is involved in fine tuning ways of solving them through an advocacy campaign programme called Gabasawa Women and Children Initiative, where she serves as the organization’s unpaid Programme Advisor on gender, youth and conflict since 2007.

“As an unpaid staff of the organization, I am tasked with project management and development, networking and liaison. Our focal points include mobilization, advocacy and sensitization on focal issues which includes HIV/AIDs, child labour, girl-child education, youth restiveness and other related issues.

“We have been involving youths, women advocacy with the sole aim of sensitizing and educating them on the need to be self-reliant and also not to be pawns in the hands of some selfish elements in the society. By so doing, we were able to rescue several youths from the streets and involved them in vocational skills.

“In the case of women, we have been holding and organizing workshops on the dangers of VVF, as well as involving them in participating in economic activities that will generate revenue for them even while in their matrimonial homes. This, we have been doing in teaching them soap and pomade making, sewing among other vocational skills,” Goni said.   

Zara was an Assistant Director, Human Resources –Operational Management in the ABTI-American University, Yola, Adamawa State from 2006-2007. She was responsible for designing compensation and benefit packages for staff and faculty as well as managing and supporting the university’s recruitment and selection processes for administrative positions; helping departmental personnel in the preparation of job postings and selection criteria, accepting and processing employment applications; counseling employees on cross- cultural management.

Before then, she was with the Action Aid International Nigeria, Abuja in 2006 as Budget Advocacy and Capacity Building Programme Administrator.

She was also responsible for the implementation of some budget tracking and reporting for specific projects in support of team leader. This included managing budget spreadsheets and financial files in close liaison with AAIN Accounting Office as well as recording and monitoring team members’ expenditure within agreed guidelines.

She was an Academic Associate Peace Works, Abuja, Nigeria in 2005; Programme Manager, HIV/AIDS initial assessment research, FCT Action Committee on AIDS funded project. She conducted a knowledge, attitude and practice survey amongst youths and internally displaced persons in the FCT, Nigeria to assess the prevalence rate and impact of donor funds.

Also, she was Project Coordinator, Internally Displaced Persons, where she among other functions headed a four-man team in identifying, mapping, returning, resettling and integrating internally displaced persons around the Federal Capital Territory; coordinated research into causes of communal conflict and facilitated stakeholders’ development of effective framework for peace process and  facilitated dialogue between public officials and community leaders, leading to design and Implementation of a model poverty alleviation project aimed at preventing local conflict in Northern Nigeria.

She also empowered communities to address conflict through strengthening of peace advocacy, coalition building and social mobilization capacity of local civil society groups. Sh dentified training needs and assisted in capacity building and development of skills of grassroots women and youth as well as  worked with youth and children to devise suitable empowerment models and prevent incidence of child labour.

“As an unpaid staff of this organization, I served as part of a multi-disciplinary team of conflict specialists and community development officers utilizing micro-business development and working with religious and community leaders to develop, implement and monitor community interventions designed to address the underlying causes of conflict.

“Making organisational policies and enhancing interpersonal skills among staff, building effective relationships of trust and credibility with employees. I gained rich experience in conflict resolution, conflict management, making strategic peace and development plans, leadership development, talent management, social risk management, organisational effectiveness and building a strategic HR function. This gave me an insight in cross-cultural management and maintaining environmental stability,’’ she said.

She had a stint at the English Cultural Centre, Khartoum, Sudan- from 2007-2008 as a Human Resource Consultant/ English Language Facilitator. She was among other things responsible for designing English Language packs for non-English speakers; responsible for all HR functions in the institute which included designing job descriptions, screening of resumes, negotiating employment offers and designing relocation packets, design and coordination of employee performance appraisal packets and human resource information system. She also responsible for helping clients’ improved recruitment effectiveness by evaluating the current processes against best practice and improving retention rates by analyzing staff turnover data and identifying the root cause of staff leaving.

Also, she was Programme/Project Officer, CENPERD Lafia, Nassarawa State from 2001-2003 where she facilitated the formation of a Girl-child Trust Fund Scheme, a scheme that was responsible for assisting the Girl-child education through advocacy, sensitizing and encouraging the participation of all stakeholders toward contributing to the success of the scheme.

She managed program activities for the Nigeria Youth TV drama project which provided positive alternative behavior options for women and youth when dealing with conflict, democracy, participation in local governance, unemployment, trafficking and HIV/AIDS.

Zara’s educational development started from the University of Maiduguri where she obtained a Bachelors of Science degree in Science Education in 1992 and a Diploma in Science Education in 1988. She attended the University of Lagos, Computer Centre, Northern Zone Office, Minna; where she obtained a Diploma in Computer Science in 1995.

She also holds Maters degree on Human Resource Planning and Development from the Institute of Applied Manpower Research, affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprashtha University, New Delhi, India in 2005 and International Relations from University of Abuja in 1995.

The development expert also has a Certificate in Human Resource Development Orientation Course for International Participants at the Centre for Good Governance, Uttaranchal Academy of Administration, Nainital, India in 2004; Certificate in Administration and Managerial Aspects of Human Resources from HCM Rajasthan State Institute of Public Administration, Jaipur, India in the same year.

She attended many seminars and workshops that included Budget Tracking Training for Trainers by Action Aid International, Nigeria;  two-day seminar on the need for Human Rights Education, via video conference, British Council, New Delhi, India in 2004; Tools for Monitoring and Evaluation, Action Aid International, Nigeria in 2008; Baseline Methodology Training, Action Aid International, Nigeria in 2008 among others.