By Victor Akaa
The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr. Edward Kallon has today, 1st July, 2019 advised president Muhammadu Buhari to appoint more competent women in his second term cabinet.
Mr. Edward made the call today at the launching of the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN) in Abuja.
He said despite the critical role women play in the peace building and leadership in the country, the efforts seemed not to be making the desired results.
“The evidence linking women’s participation and leadership with peace and development is convincing and well known. But there is a significant gap between what we know and what we do”.
He noted the impact with which women have being contributing towards common cause in Nigeria include the ‘Bring Back Our Girl’ campaign, mobilization of women across the party lines to end the marginalization of women in elected political offices, among others.
He further said the AWLN will be a platform where the women will channel their plight and advocate for the realization of national and Sustainable Development Goals.
In her remarks, the UN Women Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS Ms. Comfort Lamptey said AWLN is a force where all women will come together irrespective of their differences to make gender equality a uniting goal above any divisive tendency like politics, ethnicity, age, among others.
She said if this is achieved, the potential Nigerian woman would inherit a better Nigeria where she can express her full potentials.
“This generation of women leaders can bequeath to your daughters and granddaughters, a Nigeria which will allow them to attain their full potentials, where violence against women will not be normalised and where peace and security will prevail”.
Lamptey further said the tireless efforts of women towards peace in the world and indeed Africa led to the adoption of UN security council resolution 1325 on women peace and security and its related resolutions.
She therefore saw the need for women in Nigeria to galvanise and work together to redefine the strategy in accelerating progress towards gender equality and women empowerment in the country.
She also lamented that the reduction of women’s participation as well as the regression of women in the elected political office in the 2019 general election, she suggested that this will be surmounted only if there are strategies to block the loopholes
