BACKGROUND
This issue brief is developed to be at the forefront of thinking and building consensus on what a one-stop shop
means to civil society regulatory policies at the sub-national level. Recently civil society organisations have
touted one-stop shops as one of the solutions to the myriad of regulatory directives emanating from ministries
and agencies of governments across different Nigerian states.
Regulatory delivery for civil society at the sub-national level is usually not known to be hinged on any state
legislated law, however, research has shown that both the Child Rights Act and Violence Against Persons
Prohibition Act enacted at the state level provide a legal basis for civil society regulations in the areas of
children and women issues. One frequent lament by organisations is the difficulty of partnering with the
government at the state level without registering with the agency in focus, accessing relevant information on
administrative procedures relating to these registrations and their legal basis is often a challenge.