The International Trade Union Confederation-Africa (ITUC-Africa) has called on women across the continent to take deliberate steps to empower one another and ensure greater representation and participation in trade unionism.
Speaking to the Voice of Nigeria (VON) in an interview in Lomé, Togo, on the sidelines of the just-concluded 2nd ITUC-Africa Women’s Biennial Conference, the organisation’s General Secretary, Comrade Joel Odigie, urged women to champion women-to-women solidarity.
Odigie said women must move away from the belief that women were their own worst enemies and instead consciously support one another in their efforts to succeed in different fields.
He said the conference was convened to review progress made on the 14-point agenda adopted two years ago when participants gathered in Cotonou, Benin Republic, for the maiden conference.
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According to him, discussions at the three-day conference were robust and addressed issues affecting the everyday lives of working women, particularly those in the informal economy.
“We had a robust discussion on the informal economy, where the majority of working women are found.
“I think that understanding is there. Whatever we take from the meeting, one or two important pieces of information would have been grasped.
“Knowledge would have increased compared to what it was before.
“Importantly, it has also provided a space for women to network, get to know one another better and see how they can constitute support systems for their fellow women. So, overall, it has gone very well,” he said.
Odigie noted that participation had improved compared with the Cotonou conference, adding that more trade unions were now willing to sponsor women to attend the programme.
“A number of them paid for their participants to attend, unlike Cotonou, where participation was largely externally supported. We are seeing that the space itself is gaining acceptance from our affiliates,” he said.
He identified the intergenerational dimension of the conference as another significant outcome, saying the programme was not only about women generally but also about young women in the trade union movement.
“We were able to bring leaders of the organisations to champion the process,” he said.
Funding Women’s Programmes
On concerns about inadequate funding for women’s programmes, which featured prominently during the three-day discussions, Odigie said trade unions should explore partnerships with organisations willing to support women and labour-related initiatives.
He said many agencies were available to support women, men and trade union programmes but were not being adequately utilised.
“First, we sometimes put too much mystification around funding. I always tell them that funding is the last thing I look at.
“There are too many agencies available to women, men and trade unions that we do not use enough. The fact that you are a trade union organisation and have a structure is something you can leverage on.
“When we issue statements on issues that are important to our people, those are also forms of leverage. Over time, people come to the organisation. When we speak on an issue, people listen,” he said.
Odigie cited ITUC-Africa’s advocacy on labour migration as an example, saying governments were increasingly seeking to engage with the organisation because of its sustained advocacy.
“As I speak to you now, there is a convergence around labour migration work on the continent. Governments across the world are writing to us, not asking for space but asking what they can do and how they can work with us. Partly, this is because we have done the advocacy.
“By the time people see that you are using knowledge effectively, they want to work with you, and the money will come,” he said.
He, however, acknowledged that trade unions needed to do more institutionally to fund their own initiatives, warning against creating dependency.
“Trade unions should be able to fund their initiatives because otherwise we will be reinforcing dependency. We do not need to do that. Rather, what we want to strengthen is partnership, not dependency,” he said.
The ITUC-Africa General Secretary also urged trade unions to prioritise funding for women’s activities, saying the organisation had committed significant resources to the agenda.
“This is why we have put our money into it. Almost 40 per cent of our funds have gone into this, and we are not regretting it because we know the investment we are making,” he said.
Odigie expressed confidence that the investment would produce results if unions continued to support and encourage women who were willing to take action.
“We want to identify those who are inspired and ready to do something that we can support. We can encourage them to continue,” he said.
Women Must Support Women
Odigie said the time had come for women to strengthen women-to-women organising and bring more women into the trade union movement.
He said increasing women’s participation would enable more women to contribute to their collective cause and reduce their vulnerability.
He also called for a change in the way women approached their roles within trade unions, stressing the importance of mutual support and solidarity.
“Solidarity must start by bringing more women into the fold. Bringing women into the fold helps to reduce their vulnerability.
“The more they are outside, the more vulnerable they are. When they are inside, their agency to fight [for their rights] increases,” he said.
