ABUJA – Women have not been given the opportunity to contribute much to the country’s workforce, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, has said.
Oyo-Ita, represented by Mr Peter Ekweozoh, Director, Bio-Resources Technology in the ministry, made the remark at the opening of a capacity building workshop in Abuja on Friday.
She contended that there cannot be sustainable development without the inclusion of women in production.
The permanent secretary said the ministry was intensifying efforts to promote science, technology and innovation to support women empowerment.
She explained that science, technology and innovation were important tools to accelerate economic growth through increased productivity and competitiveness.
“Pushing the effort at mainstreaming has become imperative in the drive to create jobs in all areas of technology, engineering and mathematics.
This, she added, can enhance employment at the leadership and decision making level.
Oyo-Ita said women had gained reasonable access to education at the primary and secondary levels.
She, however, stated that women had not reached parity in science, technology and innovation discipline at the tertiary education level.
“Progress has been so slow and the situation is being described as a “leaky pipeline” where there is a continued attrition of women at each stage of the academic and career ladder’’, she said.
According to her, the belief that boys/men are better than girls/women affect girls/ women enrolment and retention, recruitment and career progression in science and technology.
“The result is frustration and lack of self-esteem, unfulfilled potential, resort to menial jobs, limited opportunities and vulnerability.
“The need for mainstreaming gender in science, technology and innovation is obviously very glaring”, she said.
Mrs Nnenna Okoronkwo, Deputy Director, Department of Physical and Life Science in the ministry, stated that gender mainstreaming was gaining popularity as a right based approach to address women’s rights.
“With the importance placed on science and technology initiatives as vital tools for development, it is crucial to look at the role of women and gender equality within them”, she said.
She said the ministry had formulated “Gender Responsive” to mainstream women in science by providing more incentives for their participation.
Okoronkwo, who is also the Gender Desk Officer in the ministry, said the workshop was aimed at developing and strengthening the competences of the Desk Officers in the ministry and its agencies.
“It will focus on understanding and discovering the obstacles that hinder the achievement of development goals and fashion ways of achieving growth and development of the country through this drive.’’
