Stakeholders call for implementation of policies promoting gender equality

Stakeholders campaigning for women inclusion across all sectors have urged the Nigerian government to implement policies that will promote gender equality and add more value to women.

The stakeholders disclosed this at the launch of the “Her Money Her Power” campaign in partnership with the She Tank and BellaNaija centered on promoting women’s financial freedom and gender equality.

Uche Pedro, CEO, Bella Naija explained that there should be adjustment in policies that don’t see to the growth of the female gender while promoting the policies that are favourable to their inclusion.

“We want to consider policy. What are the current policies that promote that guard rail around women economic powers in Nigeria and how can we actually look at improving them and the ones that are already good, how can we implement them across the nation,” Pedro said.

Pedro added that the inspiration behind the campaign is women’s economic power and putting the creative value of women in the spotlight for useful purposes.

“Nigerian women create so much value in our society and the purpose of this campaign is to drive this message to the forefront and also shift the narrative. We want a woman to see her value whenever she sees herself that she can build the life she desires for herself, family, community or country,” Pedro said.

She said the campaign aims to make it a national discussion where the people and government will put women’s economic power at the forefront.

“We want a situation where norms are shifting. Our culture is always quite progressive in many parts of Nigeria where women are able to have properties and take up high positions while in some places there are still a little bit behind. So, we want people to see that women create significant economic value in Nigeria.”

However, the campaign according to the partners is in response to the persisting economic challenges faced by the female gender and the general impact on the society.

Blessing Omakwu, CEO, She Tank speaking at the campaign launch in Lagos said there is a need to discuss more on the narrative of women power in Nigeria and see towards achieving gender equality.

She added that lack of empowerment has also subjected the majority of women to all forms of abuse which is the narrative the campaign seeks to address.

“In Nigeria, women lack so much power, especially financial power. If a woman has money, she most likely will not stay in an abusive relationship and if they have money, you know that they are as good as families and the society. So, we want to see women having not just empowerment but also a voice in their home, career, the society and even in government,” she said.

She noted that the goal of the campaign is to bring successful ladies across sectors to discuss and share their success stories to motivate and empower the growth of the younger generation.