The eighth Annual Voice of Girls (VOW) Convention and Awards Ceremony held on October 3, 2024 on the NAF Convention Middle, Abuja introduced collectively key stakeholders, coverage makers and grassroots girls who got here collectively to Dedicated to 1 mission: to advertise the inclusion of ladies in management for sustainable improvement in Nigeria.
The organizer is Voices of Girls’s Empowerment BasisThe theme of this yr’s convention is “Reaching Girls’s Inclusion and Constructing Sustainable Improvement in Nigeria”, emphasizing the vital function performed by girls, particularly girls on the grassroots stage, in shaping the way forward for the nation.
The occasion attracted greater than 500 members, together with high-profile leaders, girls’s rights advocates and representatives from varied sectors, all of whom contributed to centered discussions on selling gender equality in governance, coverage and management.
Setting the agenda for girls’s inclusion
In her opening remarks, Abiola Chuyode AfolabiThe Chairman of the VOW2024 Planning Committee emphasised that empowering girls on the grassroots stage is essential to attaining a extra inclusive and sustainable Nigeria. She urged the nation to acknowledge the immense contribution of those girls, stating:
“Our dialogue right now is about actionable methods to extend the illustration of ladies in management roles. Grassroots participation of ladies is essential to driving insurance policies that mirror the wants of all Nigerians.
Akiyo-Afolabi’s remarks set the tone for a day of dynamic exchanges, highlighting the necessity to make sure the participation of ladies from all walks of life, particularly these from rural areas, in decision-making processes.
name for political motion
Thone Okwale SoniayaThe CEO of ladies’s radio station 91.7 FM and convener of the occasion made a passionate attraction for elevated political will to cross the 74 extra seats invoice presently being thought-about by the tenth Nationwide Meeting. The invoice goals to make sure girls are given extra seats in governance, a key step in direction of closing the gender hole in Nigeria’s management.
“We’d like President Bola Tinubu to make use of his voice and affect to push for the passage of this invoice. Nigerian girls deserve a seat on the desk and we have to be intentional about creating this area for them,” Soniaya stated.
She additionally inspired younger Nigerian girls to make the most of instructional alternatives such because the NELFUND mortgage, which has the potential to raise them into management positions.
Grassroots girls: the inspiration for sustainable improvement
in an announcement Persistence EkoubaUN Girls Nigeria Nation Program Officer on behalf of the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Beatrice AyongThe function of grassroots girls in sustainable improvement was emphasised. Ayon’s message highlights the structural limitations that stop girls from taking over management roles, regardless of their simple talents and potential.
“Grassroots girls are the spine of our communities. Their participation in governance and management is just not solely essential, however lengthy overdue,” Eyong famous.
Her message resonated with the viewers, sparking dialogue concerning the want for better collaboration between grassroots and concrete girls to drive significant social change.
Hawa Ibrahim AdamuThe chairperson of the FCT Committee on Wives of Conventional Leaders stated that as a rural girl, the theme of this assembly was each well timed and essential. She emphasised that rural girls are the spine of society and a lot of girls got here ahead in elections.
She referred to as on males to assist girls in management, noting that ladies made up a bigger proportion of the inhabitants and needs to be valued for his or her immense talents.
“It’s time that we acknowledge and empower girls to totally train their rights,” she urged.
Adamu additionally highlighted poverty as a serious problem confronted by rural girls and harassed the necessity for better give attention to their well-being and improvement.
Celebrating resilience and management
Speaker Nkeruka OnyejiochaThe Minister of State for Labor and Employment shared her private expertise and attributed her political success to the unwavering assist of rural girls. She referred to as for the event of such 35% Affirmative Motion and harassed that with out the participation of rural girls, these insurance policies will stay ineffective.
“The ability of rural girls is simple, and their assist has been key to my success. If we really need to create lasting change, we should proceed to incorporate them in management discussions,” she stated.
A sonorous and highly effective speech was additionally delivered on the assembly Senator Natasha Akpoti-UduahanShe inspired aspiring feminine politicians to really perceive the distinctive challenges confronted by girls in Nigeria, particularly these in rural areas and within the civil service.
Former First Woman of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi Adeleye Fayemirequires better emphasis on amplifying girls’s voices and stresses the necessity to finish the exclusion of ladies from decision-making processes in Nigeria. She harassed that attaining this objective requires taking sure key steps, together with demonstrating the political will to make gender equality a nationwide precedence.
Erelu Bisi Fayemi stated one of many key methods to boost the function of ladies in governance is to ascertain robust authorized and coverage frameworks. She harassed the significance of enacting and implementing legal guidelines that safeguard girls’s rights and supply them with a protecting security web.
Fayemi additional urged the federal government to actively champion the reason for girls’s participation in governance and stay vigilant always to make sure that girls are usually not marginalized. She emphasised that the legacy of ladies’s inclusion needs to be intentional and sustainable, leaving a optimistic influence for future generations.
In her speech, Fayemi additionally referred to as on girls to “convey out the wrappers,” a metaphor that symbolizes solidarity and mutual assist amongst girls. She encourages girls to unite and assist one another to attain frequent targets and obtain better progress.
Moreover, she referred to as on different state governments to observe the lead of Kwara and Ekiti states, which have made important progress in attaining the best variety of girls in authorities positions. She urged different states to observe its instance in selling girls’s participation in governance and decision-making processes.
Taiwo AdeleyeA program officer from the Girls’s Voice Empowerment Basis gave an insightful discuss on grassroots engagement with a give attention to same-sex assist. She highlighted the significance of ladies empowering one another on the group stage, demonstrating methods to advertise girls’s solidarity to drive optimistic change and improve collective participation in management and improvement efforts. Her speech highlighted the essential function girls on the grassroots stage play in constructing stronger, extra inclusive gender equality networks.
approach ahead
VOW2024 highlights the significance of ladies’s participation in all areas of governance. Discussions all through the occasion highlighted the necessity to tackle limitations that stop girls, particularly these from rural and grassroots communities, from assuming management roles. The occasion served as each a platform for dialogue and a name to motion, with members pledging to advocate for insurance policies and initiatives designed to assist girls’s management in Nigeria.
As Nigeria continues its journey in direction of sustainable improvement, the function of ladies, particularly on the grassroots stage, stays a essential element of its success. VOW2024 offers a beneficial area for these voices to be heard and highlights the significance of systemic change to advertise gender equality in management.
BellaNaija is the media accomplice of VOW2024
