The United Nations Women Nigeria has advocated for more women participation in politics, Electoral Reforms and special seats for women ahead of the 2027 General Elections.
Country Representative to UN Women Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Beatrice Eyong, stated this at the UN Women and Partners Open ‘Day Event’ for North Central, held in Ilorin Kwara State.
She emphasized the need to prepare women in politics for the 2027 general elections.
The Country Representative said the UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women (GEWE), established in July 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly, to eliminate discrimination against women and girls, achieve gender equality, and empower women.
“In Nigeria, UN Women design and implement interventions that contribute to the triple mandates of normative frameworks and standards, UN system coordination and operational work – to mobilize urgent and sustained action to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls” Ms. Eyong added.
She summarized some of the things we do seven ways across our thematic areas of work; Evidence based Advocacy: it is any action to cause the general public including policy makers, authorities change their behaviour positively vis à vis gender equality and women’s empowerment. We carry out studies to provide statistics necessary for evidence-based advocacy, planning and budgeting as well as gender responsive auditing and evaluations. We develop and implement capacity building programs in domains that help women use their full potentials.Increase women’s access to and control to information, services, resources, decision making spaces, and Markets provide policy advisory, support and technical support to make gender justice and women’s empowerment a reality! We coordinate (both at global and country levels) efforts by member States to set standards such as laws/legislations, policies, resolutions, protocols, for gender equality.
Others includes “We technically and financially support governments and national stakeholders to implement, monitor and evaluate as well as report the achievements of these standards in member countries. We implement programs and projects on the field such as establishing biogas units for rural households, digitally assisted climate smart agriculture linked with animal husbandry, establish units for food processing, and preservation and marketing. We also work with communities that are often ‘left behind; women living with HIV, Women with disability, migrant women and others”.
We provide information services, economic empowerment for them and also policy engagements to ensure they have enabling environment to life fulfilled lives as well as contribute to development.
Ms. Eyong noted that the ‘Open Day’ is a new initiative by UN Women and her partners; aimed at making visible UN Women and her Partners’ work, advocating, and soliciting political commitments from the state executives; the governor, deputy, the legislators, the judiciary and other critical stakeholders towards advancing women representation, governance and leadership and other strategics gender needs.
“The ‘Open Day’ also provides opportunity for UN Women partners and beneficiaries to share first and success stories/positive impacts, gaps and challenges they are having with GEWE programming taking place at communities’ levels.
The event will also allow us to reflect on where more action is required and strengthen partnership and collaboration to expand our reach and impacts as well”.
She added that ” UN Women has invested some substantial resources over the years through different programmes and projects in Kwara State, among the programmes are: Biogas: Establishment of Kwara state task team for the biogas project comprising Ministries of WA. Environment, Agriculture and few notable CSOs working on renewable energy. Identification, mobilization and construction of three demonstration biogas plants for the training of over 400 rural women farmers on the use and maintenance biogas plants as alternative source of cooking energy”.
The beneficiaries she explained are to be provided with biogas plants, this will enable them access to organic manure(bio-slurry) for their agricultural activities.
Ms. Eyong charged the participants “together, we can create lasting change and build a more equitable and empowered future for all women and girls in the North Central Zone and beyond”.
Participants drawn from the States in the North Central Zone agreed to work for the progress and development of the womenfolk.
END
