To improve the advocacy for women’s rights and inclusion, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, recently organised a Media Forum involving key stakeholders to brainstorm on actionable strategies to escalate media action for women’s empowerment.
At the event, the UN Women Country Representative in Nigeria, Beatrice Eyong, charged members of the press to advocate for change through their platforms.
She said: “In the private sector, we have 22 per cent of the decision-making positions led by women. In Kaduna and Kwara states, legislators have adopted the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill.
“The Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are more open to gender equality, as we were at the National Assembly recently talking about women’s representation. We have the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act adopted by 35 states and the Child’s Rights Act adopted by all the states in the federation. Some state governments including Adamawa, Cross River, Borno, Lagos, and Sokoto have costed action plans in place.”
According to her, Edo and Kwara states having 33 per cent and 50 per cent of women respectively in the Houses of Assembly is a step in the right direction. While noting that the media have a huge role to play in the fight for advocacy for women’s rights and representation, she added that it requires a joint effort from the general public.
“The representation of women in the Nigerian parliament isn’t where we need it to be. There are challenges that we must all join hands together to surmount. The question is how much is being done by the media to advocate for women’s economic empowerment and representation in appointed and electoral positions in Nigeria. What the media can do differently to improve chances of more women joining politics and emerging victorious in the next elections are questions seeking answers,” she added.
UN Women National Programme Officer, Coordination and Partnerships, Patience Ekeoba, who led a panel session on ‘The Road to the 2027 General Election: Improving Women’s Representation Through Media Intervention’, noted that UN Women was fully interested in championing the cause of women, particularly in the area of political participation.
“We have a full unit which works with a lot of women groups, from the government to diverse networks and groups of women to even younger girls. We have been doing quite a lot, working with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to make sure that women constantly stay prepared for every available opportunity,” she said.
Ekeoba added that the UN Women would be learning from shortfalls in the 2023 general election and collaborating with relevant parties to ensure that women’s participation is fully optimised in the 2027 elections by enforcing effective initiatives.
The Executive Director of the International Press Centre, (IPC), Mr. Olanrewaju Arogundade, also stressed the need for the media to advocate for an enabling environment for greater women’s representation.
