By Hassan Zaggi
In an effort to ensure that the already narrowed opportunities for women in all spheres is widen, plans have been concluded for stakeholders in Nigeria to, again, take a look at the issues around gender equality.
The conference which will be hosted by Nigeria Health Watch on November 3-4, will seek to place the focus on gender equality, with the aim of amplifying the gender discourse.
In a statement, the organisers said: “Gender Equality still remains a fundamental issue in 2021 and has been more in the limelight because of the pandemic.
“Over the last decade, significant progress has been made but many challenges still remain.
“Women still have fewer opportunities for economic participation than men, less access to basic and higher education and less political representation.”
The group expressed concern over the recent COVID-19 response saying, although women accounted for 70% of the global health workforce at the frontline of the COVID-19 response, only one in 10 representatives on COVID-19 taskforces were women, noting that Nigeria was no
different.
The conference which is with the theme ‘Gender Equality for Sustainable Development’ will be delivered as a webinar.
“The first day of the conference will foster dialogue around Women in Media, the need to make women’s representation in
media more inclusive and the need to develop more gender-balanced news stories, so women’s voices can be heard,
“#HeForShe elevating conversation on how men can support women’s representation in male dominated leadership spaces,
Women in Leadership amplifying the critical importance of women in leadership as a driver of improved gender equality.
“The second day of the conference will be focused on Gender Equality for Quality Women’s Health. Gender inequality
impacts on the health and social status of women and girls and their access to economic and educational resources,
amongst others.
“Women’s autonomy in making decisions about their health and bodies can be at odds with societal
and cultural norms.
“Discussions will be focus on Elevating the Importance of Better-Quality Women’s Healthcare, fostering dialogue around understanding the barriers that prevent women from accessing quality healthcare, and advocating for women to be better represented at the policy making level,” the statement said.
According to the Managing Director, Nigeria Health Watch, Vivianne Ihekweazu” “Reducing gender inequality and addressing harmful gender norms should be a greater priority to ensure that healthcare delivery is gender-responsive.
“Elevating the voices of women and girls through the media, ensuring more gender-balanced representation at the leadership level supported by men standing in solidarity with women should drive improved sustainable development outcomes,” the statement further said.
The statement, however, quoted the Country Director, World Bank Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, as saying: “To accelerate Nigeria’s slow demographic transition and to quickly realize a potential demographic dividend, Nigeria needs to invest more on its youths particularly girls, who are able to effectively contribute to the economy if they are equipped with the necessary skills and capabilities to participate in the labor market.”
