Women’s Democracy Network (WDN) members Maimuna Abdallah Mwidau from Kenya and Djingarey Maiga from Mali recently served on the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) election observation delegation for Nigeria’s April 16, 2011 presidential election.  Mwidau was deployed to Lagos in the south and Maiga to Adamawa state in the northeast.  The delegation found the election to be a major step forward in advancing Nigeria’s democracy.

Mwidau is a founding member and the current Chairperson of the League of Muslim Women of Kenya and worked as a National Coordinator with the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission for more than three years.  She ran for parliament in 2004 and 2007 and served as Secretary General for the Kenya African Democratic Development Union Party.  In 2008, Mwidau also served as a long-term election observer in Bangladesh. 

Maiga is the Executive Director of Femmes et Droits Humains (Women and Human Rights) in Mali.  She first began working with the Institute for Popular Education as the human rights and gender analysis trainer and women’s education coordinator.  Due to the success of the human rights education program, Maiga and other human rights trainers formed Femmes et Droits Humains in 2000 to build the capacity of women at the grassroots level to promote the socioeconomic, civil and political rights of women and girls. 

Prior to observing the election, WDN delegates met with several Nigerian organizations that work to increase women’s participation in politics, including the Women Consortium of Nigeria and the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center. 

Once observers deployed to their states, they held meetings with election officials, civil society and political party activists to gauge the pre-election environment.  On Election Day, observers witnessed candidate accreditation, voting and vote tabulation to ensure procedures were implemented according the electoral laws.  The WDN delegates’ observations of the elections were represented in IRI’s preliminary statement of the presidential election and will be included in its comprehensive election report.

In addition to observing this election, WDN, in coordination with IRI’s Nigeria program, conducted workshops for women in Nigeria in the lead-up to the national assembly and presidential elections.  In November 2010, WDN and IRI hosted a two-day communication training for female aspirants seeking their party’s nomination in the primaries.  Following the workshop, WDN and IRI hosted a workshop for female candidates, members of political parties and representatives from civil society to create an electoral manifesto outlining issues of importance to women.  The manifesto will serve as a tool to hold leaders accountable following the elections. 

After observing the election, Mwidau said, “The [election observation] mission was an eye opener for me in many ways.  I was able to observe the full process in the field and in a short period of time got to understand the Nigerian electoral process.  Now as I travel back home to Kenya, I certainly have gained some good experience, thanks to the International Republican Institute and all those who have made this mission possible.”