A women-led social impact agency, Eden Venture Group (EDEN), has announced its initiative to support the domestication of the Nigeria Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Policy and action plan.
Recall in May 2023, the former Federal Executive Council (FEC) of the Buhari administration adopted Nigeria’s first National Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE Policy) following an 18-month-long development process led by the Federal Ministry of Women’s Affairs (FMWA) and the Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning (FMFBNP).
Since then, the current Administration has endorsed the WEE Policy, given its significant overlap with the gender equality and social inclusion priorities of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to the Media Head, Eden Venture Group, Eve Maja, disclosed that the group is one of the six organisations selected by Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG), to drive integration and implementation of the National WEE Policy in three priority states (Kano, Kaduna and Lagos) by amplifying the Policy through innovative communication and advocacy campaign.
Hence, the group is a member of the WEE Policy Catalyst Fund cohort spearheaded by ASG. Consequently, EDEN is at the forefront of efforts to amplify the domestication of the WEE policy and action plan nationally and in the three key states, with tangible benefits for women across Nigeria.
Meanwhile, other cohort members leading the domestication and action planning of the WEE policy are Fable/Isa Wali in Kano, Dev-Afrique in Kaduna and the Policy Innovation Center (PIC) of the NESG in Lagos State.
At its official launch, Former Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen, disclosed that the policy was birthed to change the narratives on gender inequality by focusing on key sectors where most Nigerian women and girls are employed or likely to pursue livelihoods, such as agriculture, entrepreneurship, emerging industries, the traditional labour market, education, and skills acquisition.
It is stated that the WEE policy document is a comprehensive roadmap outlining measures to promote women’s economic empowerment with a wide range of areas, from improving access to finance to addressing gender-based discrimination and bias in the workplace, thereby ensuring a holistic approach to gender equality in the economic sphere.
Critical stakeholders, including gender advocates in attendance at a validation workshop organized by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in Abuja on WEE indicators, action plan and monitoring and evaluation framework, asserted that the National WEE policy document could chart a path for transitioning women from having limited economic power, voice and choice to skills acquisition opportunities.
The stakeholders buttressed on empowering women economically through the WEE Policy would improve individual lives of both men and women, drive sustainable development, strengthen economic growth, and support families such that communities thrive, thereby painting a hopeful picture of the policy’s potential impact.
Similarly, Minister for Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, recently expressed concern that most states have yet to domesticate the policy one year after its launch. She stressed that gender inclusion cannot occur without women’s empowerment, hence the need for States to domesticate the policy.
While the Minister called on governments at all levels to invest in women’s economic growth and development. She expressed this at a recent forum organised by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs for all the Commissioners of Women Affairs in May 2024 in Abuja.
