The United Kingdom (UK), on Wednesday, launched the global Women and Girls strategy which will set out how the UK will work to tackle global gender inequality at every opportunity.
The strategy which is in commemoration of International Women’s Day, will include combatting attempts to roll back women’s rights and working with partners from around the world to do the same.
This strategy commits the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensuring that at least 80% of its bilateral aid programmes include a focus on gender equality by 2030.
The UK, in a statement, said progress towards gender equality is increasingly under threat, adding that issues like climate change and humanitarian crises continue to disproportionately affect women and girls.
“Attempts to row back on women’s rights, increasing incidents of sexual violence in conflicts in Nigeria, Ukraine and elsewhere, and the growth of violence against women online are compounding the problem,” the statement issued by the UK High Commission in Nigeria added.
At the launch event in Sierra Leone on 8 March, the UK’s Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, said: “Advancing gender equality and challenging discrimination is obviously the right thing to do but it also brings freedom, boosts prosperity and trade, and strengthens security – it is the fundamental building block of all healthy democracies.
“Our investment to date has improved lives around the world, with more girls in school, fewer forced into early marriage and more women in top political and leadership roles.
“But these hard-won gains are now under increasing threat. We’re ramping up our work to tackle the inequalities which remain, at every opportunity.”
The new strategy puts a continued focus on educating girls, empowering women and girls, championing their health and rights and ending gender-based violence, the challenges the UK believes are most acute.
This will include the British High Commission to Nigeria developing plans and commitments specific to Nigeria and raising the most pressing issues with the Government of Nigeria.
British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing CB, said: “Nigerian women lead on the global stage and across different sectors, however, many women and girls continue to experience high levels of exclusion and marginalisation. It’s important that every girl and woman has the opportunity to reach her potential, live in freedom, and exercise her rights.
“That is why the UK is investing in areas that we know are fundamental in transforming the lives of girls and women in Nigeria.
“Through our programmes and advocacy, we are supporting women and girls affected by the conflict in North East Nigeria and tackling gender-based violence.
“Our girls’ education programmes have already supported 1.5 million additional girls to access schooling in six states since 2012.
“We have also been supporting civil society to increase political representation and participation for women in this years’ elections and to promote the inclusion of women in politics.”
In addition, the Foreign Secretary announced a new women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights programme, focused on sub-Saharan Africa, where there are some of the highest rates of child marriage and maternal mortality in the world.
Reaching up to 10.4 million women, this programme will receive up to £200 million and is expected to prevent up to 30,600 maternal deaths, 3.4 million unsafe abortions and 9.5 million unintended pregnancies.
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