President Muhammadu Buhari has launched a high-level advisory council on support for women and girls and called for the upscaling of efforts for more inclusion of women in development policies and projects.
At the launch of Advisory Council, Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for Learning and Empowerment Project and National Women’s Economic Empowerment Policy Dialogue, the president said the three initiatives would target reduction of poverty and building of a sustainable economy.
“This is what we promised to all Nigerians – including our women and girls when our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), was elected in 2015. I am proud to say that our government has delivered over the past eight years.
“The well-being of women and girls remain a pivotal indicator of how well any nation is doing in driving her developmental plans. I am proud of the tremendous progress that has been made to emphasise the needs of Nigerian women and girls into national economic planning, policy development, public programming, and public financial management.
“While there has been progress, we are not unmindful of the gaps associated with harnessing the available resources of government, the innovation and efficiency of the private sector, and the technical expertise of our social and development sector partners to drive women’s and girls’ empowerment outcomes,’’ he said in a statement by his media aide, Femi Adesina.
The president noted that coordination had remained a key gap in the efforts to improve livelihoods and democratize opportunities for women and girls.
“It is expected that the High-Level Advisory Council on Nigeria’s Support for Women and Girls, which I am very proud to inaugurate today therefore comes as an answered prayer to bridge this identified gap.
“As this council takes off, I want to charge it with the mandate to drive all round collaboration and action towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality between now and 2030,’’ the president added.
Buhari commended the minister of women affairs, the minister of finance, budget, and national planning and minister of education for exemplifying collaboration and innovation in service delivery.
“I also want to thank our private and social sector partners, especially the Council’s private sector co-chairs for being willing to join us on this journey to improve the lives of Nigerian women and girls.
“I want to charge the HLAC to initially focus on driving women’s economic empowerment, especially in the areas of economic access, sustainable livelihoods, and education; including second chance education for women and girls. I will also encourage deeper engagement and deliberate focus on sustaining the Council’s inaugural priority initiatives, which include:
“The National Policy Dialogue on Women’s Economic Empowerment which is a robust programme aimed at leveraging on diverse approaches and perspectives across the Federation to redefine our implementation of women’s economic empowerment programmes.
“I am proud that over the course of the Dialogue, in engagements stretching from Kebbi to Lagos, the Government of Nigeria has engaged the perspectives of over 100,000 Nigerians – including grassroots women, government actors, captains of industries, traditional rulers, religious leaders, technology-entrepreneurs to understand what works to drive women’s economic empowerment in Nigeria,’’ he stated.
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