By Chimezie Godfrey
The chairperson of the 2018 All African Women Summit (AAFWOS), Rosemary Effiong has said that women remained underrepresented in decision-making positions despite the fact that more than half percent of the world’s population are women.
Making the assertion in Abuja on Thursday, she posited that women were left behind politically.
“Women lack access to political decision making as compared to their male counterparts at all level of governance. So that women’s equal participation in decision-making and politics is not only a demand for simple justice, but also a necessary pre-requisite for women’s interest to be taken into account in the political process.
“Nonetheless, poverty, access to financial resources and unemployment are some of the challenges that are still staring at women,” Effiong said.
She observed that the Cairo 2016 (IPS) identified economic exclusion, financial systems that perpetuate discrimination, limited participation in politics and public life, lack of access to education and poor retention of girls in schools, gender-base violence, harmful cultural practices, and exclusion of women from peace talks, as the major standing barriers to achieving gender equality in Africa, including Nigeria.
Offiong pointed out that the overall objective of the Gender Pre-Summit was to bring together voices of key actors in the gender equality and women’s empowerment arena, to update and discuss critical developments in the field.
“It is to assess the extent of the implementation commitments, especially the declaration on 2015 Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development Towards Africa’s Agenda 2063 as well as the Mid-Term review of the African women’s Decade,” she said.
The face Ambassador of the summit Francis Duru stated that the role of women cannot be underplayed in our society, citing the Aba Women riot, and Queen Amina of Zazzau as case studies.
We need to tell our story – “Only women can tell best their story” he added saying, “Build the mind of the woman then you have built the world”, this builds the strategic tripod of focus of discuss in the All African Women Summit (AAFWOS) namely women involvement in political leadership, economic development & peace and conflict building management in Africa.
He added that there was need to empower, protect, and embark on the redemptive venture to bring back women from the despicable state that they were.
“If we can build the mind of the women, we can build the world,” he said.”
Other discussants were the Country Coordinator of Gender Agenda Initiative, Adaora Onyechere, National Women Leader, National Association of Nigerian Traders, Ruth Agbo, among others.
