Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, has urged relevant stakeholders to join forces in advancing the National WEE Policy with a view to ensuring women’s empowerment in the country.
The Permanent Secretary made the call Wednesday, while addressing participants at a sideline meeting on the Domestication of the Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) Policy during the ongoing 24th Session of the National Council on Women Affairs holding in Jos, the Plateau State Capital.
He observed that unless the efforts being made towards the empowerment of the gender are coordinated, the drive towards advancing the cause of their economic empowerment will remain unrealized.
Ambassador Aduda who described the WEE Policy as a game changer intended to bring a landslide turnaround in the active participation of women in every field of human endeavour, emphasized the urgency of domesticating and implementing the Policy by all States of the Federation so as to enable it transcend to the grassroots level.
According to him, by implementing this policy, we are building an environment where women can participate equally in all economic activities, from agriculture to industry to entrepreneurship and leadership.
The Permanent Secretary who noted that government recognises the age-long barriers as well as unequal access to education, finance, and leadership faced by women, highlighted that these challenges have not only limited the genders’ potentials but also slowed the nation’s collective progress.
He therefore stressed the need for the creation of the necessary frameworks and partnerships to implement the policy effectively in order to ensure that it reaches every woman, irrespective of their places of habitation or inadequacies.
While urging Nigerian women to also take up careers in politics to enable them champion feminine friendly policies, Ambassador Gabriel Aduda added that the successful domestication and implementation of the Policy will give women the needed power to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of the nation.
He commended the Albright Stonebridge Group for its massive support towards the success of the Policy and called on government agencies, private sector, civil societies, communities as well as State delegates to join hands together towards ensuring its Domestication and implementation, especially at the grassroots level.
During the panel discussion, the Director, Economic Services of the Ministry, Mrs. Blessing Anunike stated that the Policy opens doors for multi-sectoral approach in driving and coordination of interventions to enable the achievement of set targets.
She added that the Policy also aims to provide an enabling environment that will stimulate active participation of women in all sectors of the economy including agriculture, entrepreneurship, energy, among others with a view to enhancing the genders’ economic empowerment.
The domestication and implementation of WEE, Mrs Anunike said, will further address disparities women face in accessing financial resources as well as issues relating to inequality between women and men, boys and girls in all the geopolitical zones of the country.
Also speaking, Mrs. Rinmicit Temlong-Aboki, Gender Lead, Albright Stonebridge Group, urged representatives of state ministries to come up with policies that take cognisance of their peculiarities in order to ensure the realisation of the policy objective.
The National WEE Policy, launched in May 2023, is a beacon of hope for Nigerian women, aiming to bridge the economic gap and empower them to participate fully in the nation’s development.
Signed
Mrs Grace Njoku
Head, Information and Public Relations
