By Victoria Onehi
The Government, religious leaders, and the society in general have been urged to invest in women to help them achieve their goals.
The Chairperson of League of Women Voters of Nigeria (NILOWV),Rivers state chapter,Mrs Ruth Davies Ibiamu disclosed this in her statement to mark the 2024 International Womens Day.
Ibiamu said just as the theme of this years celebration states that ‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress’, the government and the society at large must invest in women to empower them economically, politically and socially.
” Women need every support from their spouse,their boss, religious leaders, governnmnt and even fellow women to achieve their goals. And this support could be financial, psychological, political, spiritual and social. We must invest in women in any way we can and that little push can accelerate progress in them.” Ibiamu said.
The Chairperson of League of Women voters of Nigeria (NILOWV), Rivers state chapter said the League which is an all-female organisation founded in 1996 by Dame (Dr) Esther Uduehi, following the end of the fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing China in 1995 is helping women play a larger role in Government and Public Affairs in Nigeria in consonance with the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for action.
Ibiamu said the League of Women Voters in Rivers State is already mobilising women at the state and local government level for governance.She said since inception, NILOWV has significantly increased the number of female voters registered as a result of the Leagues mobilisation efforts.”For us at NILOWV, our political party is ”Women.” We onboard registered women voters and avail them all forms of support knowing that political parties do not accord women the much needed opportunities to thrive in politics but we are doing that.”Ibiamu noted.
Ibiamu said just as the UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria, Ms Beatrice Eyong stressed during the IWD celebration, Government and the Nigerian society need to invest in women to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“She said the UN is dedicated to promoting innovative solutions to address the economic challenges confronting women and girls in Nigeria. Our government too should do the same.” Ibiamu noted.
8th of March every year is set aside to celebrate women globally as the International Women’s Day. The day is marked to create awareness about issues affecting women. It is marked to celebrate the achievements of women, their challenges and how to implement strategies to achieve gender inclusion in all sectors. The IWD 2024 theme is; “Invest in women: Accelerate progress”.
