IWD: Women want future free from stigma, stereotype, violence – NAWE

As the world mark this year’s International Women’s Day today, the National Association of Women Entrepreneurs (NAWE), has said what women want was an equal future free from stigma, stereotypes and violence.

The national president of NAWE, Barrister Vera Ndanusa, at a press conference on Monday in Abuja to mark the day, said that to get women to these areas, the world needs women at every table where decisions are being made.

According to her, women want a future that was sustainable, peaceful with equal rights and opportunities for all.

“Women of the world want and deserve an equal future free from stigma, stereotypes and violence; a future that’s sustainable, peaceful, with equal rights and opportunities for all. To get us there, the world needs women at every table where decisions are being made.

“Women’s full and effective participation and leadership in of all areas of life drives progress for everyone, Yet, women are still underrepresented in public life and decision-making, as revealed in the UN Secretary-General’s recent report,” Ndanusa said.

She said that women are Heads of State or Government in 22 countries, and only 24.9 percent of national parliamentarians are women and that at the current rate of progress, gender equality among Heads of Government will take another 130 years.

She said, “To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, with the theme: “Women in Leadership, Achieving An Equal Future in a COVID-19 world”, we are advocating for government support with a special focus on women, because the impact of COVID-19 on women analysed the effects of COVID-19 on all sectors of women’s lives and most of their living experiences.”

She also urged the government to also assist in the establishment of women shareholders multipurpose cooperative” in both urban and rural settings.

She said that such cooperatives could serve as channels for the dissemination of information and for the provision of such assistance in dealing with health challenges like malaria, hepatitis and COVID-19 that increase maternal mortality.

She said, “A special gender-sensitive monitoring system should be developed and adopted by central and commercial banks to ensure that loans and cash transfers target reach vulnerable women. Such a system could also guarantee that cash transfers do not fall into the hands of men and the less needy.

“What do expect of the rural enterprising women, whose businesses suffer serious hiccups? It’s in this light, that we in NAWE are not in support of the rumoured planned fuel pump price by Government this month. Over the years, such increase has been affecting the Nigerian economy negatively.”