By Hassan Zaggi
The Chairman, National Population Commission (NPC), Hon. Nasir Kwara, has said that for the Nigeria and even the world at large to secure gender equality, voices of women and girls must be recognized and given deserved attention.
Speaking at the celebration of the World Population Day in Abuja, Tuesday, Kwara enumerated some of the pertinent needs of women and girls that must be recognized to include quality education, participation in the work force; good representation in political positions across all levels; access to quality health care services including family planning information and commodities.
Others, according to him, include protection from harmful practices that impede their wellbeing and mar their future and protection from decisions that make them unequal across societies.
He reiterated that only these would assured a world where their rights and choices are respected and accorded the desired priority.
He, therefore, tasks stakeholders to generate what he described as a renewed commitment to put women and girls at the centre of development, where they would be seen, heard and accepted.
He commended all stakeholders including CSOs, NGOs, the media, partners and donors who, he noted, have supported in many ways to make this year’s commemoration a huge success.
“We look forward to deepening our partnerships in order to guarantee a world where women and girls’ voices find expression in concerns that matter most to their lives and existence for the emergence of a world where peace and progress thrive,” he said.
On his part, the Spokesperson of the Population Advisory Group (PGA), Ambassador Usman Sarki, warned that when voices of women and girls are ignored, “it will lead to limiting their agency and ability to make decisions that are critical to their wellbeing, such as in the areas of health, education as well as employment and wealth creation.”
According to him, the provision of access to reproductive health and other necessary commodities in the form of life saving care and services to women also promote better and healthier societies.
“Absenting these services and products inevitably contribute to our rapid population growth, high maternal death, unintended pregnancies among adolescent girls, poverty, high rates of out-of-school girls and girls dropping out of schools.
“Therefore, this event provides a veritable platform to garner commitments and apportion responsibilities, to ensure that every woman and girl in Nigeria is placed at the centre of development, policies and programmes especially under the new Administration in the country,” he stressed.
However, in an earlier circular, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) disclosed that women and girls make up 49.7 percent of the global population.
It, however, lamented that “yet their desires for their lives, families and careers are often ignored in discussions on demographics and their rights violated in population policies.
“The result is a world that excludes, marginalizes and limits the potential of every other person on the planet – a problem that will prevent all of us, not just women and girls, from experiencing a more prosperous, peaceful and sustainable future.
“At the root of this problem is gender inequality. Around the world, this pervasive injustice keeps women and girls out of schools, the workforce and leadership positions; limits their agency and ability to make decisions about their health and sexual and reproductive lives; and heightens their vulnerability to violence, harmful practices and preventable maternal death.
“And perhaps most critically, it hinders the world from asking, or caring, about what women and girls want.”
The circular disclosed that more than 40 per cent of women around the world cannot make decisions on sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights; as few as one in four women across low- and middle income countries are realizing their desired fertility and that a woman dies every two minutes due to pregnancy or childbirth (and in conflict settings, the number of deaths is twice as high).
It further revealed that nearly one third of women have experienced intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence or both; just six countries have 50 per cent or more women in parliament and more than two thirds of the 800 million people globally who cannot read are women.
The theme of this year’s World Population Day is “Unleashing the Power of Gender Equality: Uplifting the Voices of Women and Girls to Unlock Our World’s Infinite Possibilities”,
