THE Federal Government should close the gender gaps between men and women to create more sustainable and inclusive economies and societies, the Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce, industry, Mines and Agriculture Business Women Group, NAWORG, has said.
The women group also called on political parties, aspirants and candidates for the 2023 presidential election to include women in decision making to strengthen the 35 per cent affirmative action.
The National President of NAWORG, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar, stated these while speaking during the induction ceremony of its executives and state coordinators yesterday.
According to her, “Gender equality remains a major issue despite its relevance, both as a human right and and as a catalyst for economic growth. This is why closing the gender gap is a central part of any strategy to create more sustainable and inclusive economies and societies.
“Recent efforts have led to important gains in women’s education and employment outcomes in Nigeria. However, women still remain severely under-represented in key, growth-enhancing fields of education, business and government.
“First and foremost, we have to go on an advocacy campaign for the gender equality Bill for it to be passed and we have to do for the individual for the domestication because it is one thing to pass the Bill, it is another thing to domesticate the Bill for the policy and it is a work in process.
“So we have to start at the national level and then we go to the sub-national and then we go on, we are going to work at it.”
Abubakar, the immediate past Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, also stated that women should be carried along in the formulation of national policies and decisions which impact them and the citizenry.
“We are demanding for us to be put at the table when the decisions are being made; for us to be put at the table when policies are being made, especially the ones that affect children and women; and for us to be put at the table when decisions about the economy are being made because we are part of the economy. We are also part of everything that is going on, so we just need to be there whether it is fiscal, monetary, whether it is security issues, education or health, whatever it is, we need to be there to put our voices.
“We understand, we are the ones who carry the burden and backlash of all of these. So we should be there to guide and to say what the situation is.”
She also called on the government “to ensure that all our monetary and fiscal policies and everything align to sustain the value of the Naira. So, we just have to sure that our policies align to create that stability that we need in our country.”
Abubakar also spoke on the increase in the prices of goods and services and inflation in the country.
She said, “Well, it is a challenging time not only for Nigeria, but it is also a challenging time for everyone, for every woman all over the world, what we must continue to do is to stay together, watch out for each other and then continue to say what we need and to seek the support that w need to get to where we need to go.
“We must not give up. When we have a challenge that means we have already identified where the problem is, so we must always find ways. We must talk to the relevant agencies, we will talk to the relevant people in the private sector, whoever we are able to talk to we will continue to talk and engage for us to be able to create that environment to make it easier for women to work.”
Other NAWORG executives who were inducted at the ceremony, include Dr Uche Chukwu (National Secretary); Hajiya Maryam Adamu Maishanu (National Treasurer) and Amina Jambo (Director, Corporate Communication).
