Aisha Buhari urges employers to establish daycare centres

Mrs Aisha Buhari, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday, called on all employers in both private and public sectors to set up daycare centres in their respective organisations to ensure conducive working atmosphere for nursing mothers.

This is just as the Minister of Women Affairs; Pauline Tallen said her ministry would deploy officials to monitor the organisations’ compliance.

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The First Lady, who stated this in Abuja while commissioning the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) Daycare Centre, which was named after her, said it was paramount that workplaces provide child support services to help mothers.

Mrs Buhari, who was represented by the wife of the vice president, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, stressed that daycare services were part of empowerment for the women, adding that it improves access to good and affordable care and reduces the barriers to women’s full participation in the labour force.

She said, “The provision of affordable and reliable daycare services is a potential and important policy step for empowering women and generating economic opportunities for them. It promotes nutrition and learning among children.”

On her part, Tallen said the practice of establishing daycare centres in workplaces would foster the health and development of the entire workforce.