The Oxfam-Nigeria has called for concerted efforts to empower Nigerian women saying a situation where some 55 percent of female headed households are landless and another 29 percent own less than one hectare of land.
The Country Director Oxfam, Jan Rogge represented by the Associate Country Director, Evelyn Mere made the call on Thursday in Abuja as part of activities marking the 2017 International Women Day (IWD).
"Every year for more than a hundred years, the world has set aside March 8th to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The 2017 International Women’s Day again presents an opportunity to continue to challenge Gender Inequality – a situation that robs women of opportunities and denies the world the unique contributions, intuitions and potentials inherent in women," Mere said.
She said it was a day to push for the elimination of this persisting inequality which negates the opportunity for women to participate equally with men in social, political and economic life and that the theme of this year’s celebration speaks to the situation of Nigerian Women and calls on every one to #BeBoldforChange.
According to her, Nigeria has been classified as one of the most unequal countries in the world and Gender Inequality is one of the most pervasive inequalities in Nigeria.
She said the lives of Nigerian women are affected by a myriad of discriminatory traditional and socio-cultural practices which put them at a disadvantage in a number of areas compared to men and has led to women being poorer than men.
"In 2016, Nigeria ranked 118 out of 144 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index, having gained seven places from the previous year. Though a marginal gain, a lot still needs to be done to put Nigeria in a better ranking order. The Gender Inequality Index (GII) by UNDP, measures gender-based inequalities in three dimensions.
"For Nigeria, the results call for targeted action for improvement. Economically, it is estimated that 70 percent of Nigerians live below the poverty line, with women constituting the majority of the poor at 80 percent. About 54 million of Nigeria’s estimated 78 million women live in rural areas and predominate in the Agricultural Sector, working and earning their living off the land.
"Research has revealed that although women represent between 60 and 79 percent of Nigeria’s rural labour force, men are five times more likely than women to own land. Some 55 percent of female headed households are landless and a further 29 percent own less than one hectare," she said.
She said that violence is also part of the lived reality of Nigerian women, with one woman in five reporting either being raped or having experienced a rape attempt, intimidation, emotional abuse, physical assault or sexual harassment at the work place at least once in her lifetime.
She,therefore,urged the Federal Government to demonstrate political will to create a macro-economic policy environment that increases women’s productive capacity as full economic agents, increase investments in the agricultural sector and create special incentives targeted at women to enhance economic opportunities, productivity and women’s incomes and create an enabling context with adequate infrastructure that enables women in the informal sector survive and thrive.
She also urged the government to incorporate all ratified international treaties on women into domestic laws in order to make the National Gender Policy actionable.
"The Executive must further work with the legislature to ensure passage of the Gender and Equal Opportunities bills into law and the effective implementation of the Violence against Persons Prohibition law," she added.
Mere equally asked the Private sector to remember their central role in the economic empowerment of women by proactively making gender equality an integral component of corporate strategy, and donors and the International Community to prioritise funding policies and programmes that promote equality between men and women.
She said Oxafm’s Village Savings and Loans Scheme is a good model that encourages savings among community members for borrowing for investment without collateral or formal procedures.
"The innovative, a simple solution to addressing rural finance access especially for poor rural women which started in 2015 has grown up with over 8000, members in Nasarawa, Benue, Plateau, Kebbi and Adamawa states," she said.
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