“So we want to see government programmes and policies aimed at providing enabling environment for the women and girls to strive in their businesses, education and entrepreneurship as well as interrelationships within the society.
As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to celebrate International Women’s Day, ActionAid Nigeria has made a case for women and girls in Kano State, who account for about 49 percent of the population in the state.
The Deputy Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, Hajiya Suwaiba Muhammad Dankabo, while speaking during an event organized to commemorate the Day in Kano, said the level of investment in women and girls in the state is very low while there is still disparity between women and their male counterparts.
Haj. Suwaiba, however, called for a quick turn around to a situation where the government invest more in womens and girl’s education and economic empowerment for inclusive economic growth.
According to her, “Our message is invest in women, bring in equity and equality in terms of access to basic social services, opportunities, education and space for leadership.
“In a situation where you have discrepancy and disparity between men and women, boys and girls, then development is one sided. Women in Kano State accounts for almost 49 per cent of the total population.
“The level of investment in women is very low. Because there is still poverty, issues around lack of ownership of assets, there is still problem of disparity in education.
“So we want to see government programmes and policies aimed at providing enabling environment for the women and girls to strive in their businesses, education and entrepreneurship as well as interrelationships within the society.
“Our message to the public is respect women as they have dignity. Ensure that women are protected and given the right to perform to their optimal.
“We also advocate that programs and policies of government are suitable to the right of women. They should recognize the needs of women and give them that space and an opportunity to strive without any form of discrimination,” Haj. Suwaiba however stated.
Earlier, the Executive Director, Dispute Resolution and Development Initiative, Dr. Mustapha Yahaya, said over the past 20 months, with funding from the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) it has handed over three vocational skills equipment worth N40,000,000 (53.333 USD) to 300 youth and women in Kano State under the Systems and Structure Strengthening Approach against Radicalization to Violent Extremism (SARVE III).
He said the beneficiaries were trained across 3 vocational skills, namely tailoring, rice processing, and groundnut oil processing, in 12 communities in 6 local government areas, which are Gwale, Nasarawa, Bichi, Gwarzo, Bebeji, and Tudun Wada.
