EXPERTS ADVOCATE GENDER-SENSITIVE SOCIETY
Gender Experts across the five geopolitical areas of South-West Nigeria have called for a redress policy enactment that eliminates gender discrimination against women and girls.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a two-day Sensitisation Workshop on the Revised 2021 National Gender - Policy across the six Geopolitical Zones of the South-West States, held at Ibis Hotel, Airport Road, Lagos, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Cecilia Bolaji Dada stated that despite discrimination being ingrained in our society, it is imperative to curb these menace from being embedded in the social development of our communities.
Mrs. Dada, who was represented at the event by the Director of Domestic Violence, WAPA, Ms. Olorunfemi Toyin, said “Discrimination against Women takes various forms, however, we need to provide a framework for women and girls to seek justice and hold perpetrators accountable for their actions with keenness at creating a culture of respect for women and girls, to promote Gender-Equality.”
While reiterating the measures to be adopted, such as criminal sanctions and Civil remedies, Dada assured of working synergy with Government Agencies, Civil Societies and Private sectors to ensure perpetrators are held accountable for their actions.
In his address, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs; Alhaji Shehu Shinkafi revealed that the various challenges which women face as abuse, respective to human rights, prompted the redress outlined in the National Gender Policy of 2021-2026.
He informed that the gathering was designed to help in closing the gaps for gender parity in all spheres of life, protect women’s rights to mitigate the effects of gender-based violence through the use of appropriate buffers and related services, harness women’s human capital assets as a growth driver for national development, as well as ensure that socially excluded groups of people living with disabilities and the elderly are mainstreamed into developmental projects and programmes of government.
Also speaking, Ms. Atinuke Odukoya, a gender expert from the Centre for Women’s Health and Information, averred that the Policy’s goals will establish Gender-Equality, women's independence through empowerment programmes for targeted social improvement.
The highlight of the two-day event, is the inclusive participation of representatives from Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo, Osun, Ogun and Lagos States in effecting a Gender Management model in Nigeria, as a means of lending voices to our women.
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