•SBA plans women-only assembly plant
As the world marks International Women’s Day, Human Development Initiatives (HDI) Nigeria has called on government to invest more in providing affordable healthcare system and support entrepreneurship drive of women.
In a statement, yesterday, Executive Director of HDI, Mrs. Olufunso Owasanoye, encouraged women to always make a difference wherever they find themselves.
She urged women to challenge inequality, injustice and all forms of abuse and non-inclusiveness suffered by women and children.
“All women have the right to stand tall against discrimination, exploitation, violence and intimidation,” she said.
As part of activities to mark the day, she said HDI would hold a programme for married women between 20 and 50 years to build their capacity “to better handle psychological and socio-economic challenges, especially in the context of a worldwide pandemic.”
SIMILARLY, Stallion-Bajaj Alliance (SBA) in marking the day, said it would put gender equality at the forefront.
“Every International Women’s Day is a reminder that there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure more spaces are created for women to thrive, for us to examine and re-examine our processes and structures, ensure wage gaps are closed and equal opportunities are offered to women at all levels,” SBA said.
The alliance, which expressed commitment to building a more inclusive work space, said it would establish Africa’s first women-only assembly plant in Nigeria and significantly grow female representation to 35 per cent by the end of 2022.
In line with this vision, 40 women have been trained and integrated into the VON assembly plant in Lagos.
Managing Director of Stallion-Bajaj Auto Keke, Manish Rohtagi, said: “To celebrate IWD this year, we will be welcoming a new set of female mechanics to the training programme.
This is in line with our goal to train and absorb 500 female technicians by 2022. To achieve this, we will be holding several more training sessions for female riders, female assemblers and female mechanics before the year runs out.”
