By Dorcas Jonah
Abuja – The National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), has called on government at all levels to ensure a transformative agenda for women in 2020 to realise the gains of gender equality.
The President of the council, Mrs Gloria Shoda, who made the call in her New Year message to Nigerian women on Tuesday in Abuja, said that this would help key stakeholders to push for advancement in areas where progress was lacking.
According to her, 2020 will be a historic year for women. The time to call for a transformative agenda for women in 2020 is now.
“Recent history has shown that transformative change is important and lasting, but takes place only when there is major investment and attention that rises above partisan concerns.
“As a council, we believe that asserting the centrality of investments in women and girls is critical for the health of the country.
” Rising above the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 indicators to measure progress, we call for a fresh, bold and straightforward agenda for new investment in six key areas to realise progress for women and girls in the country,“ she said.
Shoda called on the global community to identify key actions in areas like politics, reproductive health, gender based violence and education to concentrate on for the benefit of women
Mrs Gloria Shoda, National President NCWS
She noted that most significant progress had been made in the struggle for women advancement since the Beijing conference in 1995.
The council boss said the emergence of a broader, mainstreamed recognition and investment in women in many areas of development had yielded better results than gender neutral approach.
According to her, time is now apt for issues on women to move from the sidelines to centre stage and promote activities that will put women at the centre of development.
(NAN)
