Director-General of the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), Mrs. Mary Ekpere-Eta, has reiterated the commitment of her agency to women empowerment.
Ekpere-Eta in a statement issued on the International Women’s Day (IWD) 2020, said women empowerment through education, healthcare and skill acquisition is prerequisite to attaining gender equality.
She noted that for women to excel in business and politics, they must have a solid foundation of a good education, they must be healthy, as well as acquire sought- after skills.
She assured that the NCWD as lead agency for women Development will continue to scale -up its empowerment programmes, even as it will come up with useful research based on which government at all levels can adequately plan for women.
This is as she promised that the Centre will continue to campaign against gender based violence, sexual harassment and rape.
“Towards the International Women’s Day 2020, the NCWD graduated 106 women from our female artisanship programme. They are the latest set of graduates from our training programmes which now cover many more lucrative sectors of the economy.
“As I have stated a couple of times, financial stability and independence is the first step to women having strong representation in the topmost echelon of business, politics and governance. This is why the National Centre for Women Development has scaled up its empowerment programmes under my tenure”, the statement read.
The NCWD Director-General commended state governments and state First Ladies that have prioritised women empowerment and political representation for women at the sub-national level.
She however called for increased investment in women and girls at the state and LG levels. This is even as she called on states yet to domesticate pivotal legislation such as the Child’s Rights Act and Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill to do so.
“What we offer at the federal level can only add to what is happening in the states.
Sustainable development is better achieved through the bottom-up approach, especially in a country like Nigeria where over seventy percent of its population live in rural areas.
“It makes sense for states and LGs to invest a significant percentage on its funds to women as they constitute fifty percent of the country’s population”, she stated.
Ekpere-Eta also took the opportunity of the IWD to commend Nigerian women for recording enough progress to showcase at the international level, as the world marks 25 years after the Beijing conference.
“Through hard work, dedication and perseverance Nigerian women have achieved milestones, broken barriers and charted new paths in the last 25 years.
“We have so much to present to the world, as stakeholders take stock of the progress made by women after the famous conference. I congratulate Nigerian women on this special day and state my confidence that even with so much we have achieved, the best days of Nigerian women are still ahead”.
The International Women’s Day 2020 has as its theme: “I am Generation Equality:Realizing Women’s Rights”.
Be the first to comment