The United Nations (UN) Women Country Representative in Nigeria, Ms Beatrice Eyong, on Monday, lamented that female candidates in the 2023 elections are poorly reported in the Nigerian media.
Eyong stated this in Abuja at a roundtable with female gubernatorial candidates organised by UN Women in collaboration with Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ).
She said it was unfortunate that female candidates were not considered newsworthy despite women constituting the largest voting population.
She said limited funding, economic disparity and unequal media access were among the factors affecting women’s participation in politics and governance.
She, however, said her organisation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Women Affairs and the Women Development Centre, would set up a resource centre for women aspiring for political office.
The proposed centre, she said, would serve as a guidance for women in politics.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, urged women in politics to seek top management positions in their political parties aside from the women leaders’ post.
Tallen, who was represented by Nasiru Baba Saleh, a director in the ministry, also urged political parties to develop a policy that will enhance gender equity and mainstreaming.
The minister said some of the factors impeding women’s effective participation in politics required constitutional reforms.
She further lamented that efforts to ensure women got special parliamentary seats suffered setbacks in the ongoing constitution review exercise as most of the gender-related bills were voted against by federal lawmakers.
She assured that her ministry, with its partners and civic groups, would continue to push for the same demand whenever there is another opportunity.
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