Toscad News
A Non-Governmental Organisation, Lola Center for the Needy Foundation, has advocated the need to empower women and girls especially at the grassroots on the tenets gender equality and its importance in ensuring individual and societal development.
The Founder, Ms. Ololade Ogunnubi made the call in Abuja at a women and girls conference as part of event to commemorate the international women month with the team, Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.
Ms. Ogunnubi explained that it was time for women and girls to take actions in their spaces and stand for equal representation in politics and other endeavours to create policies and plans that were sensitive to the peculiarity of the female gender.
“The disparity is getting too much, we have over 11 thousand professors in Nigeria and only one thousand plus are women. So this is like a charge up for women and girls to take up more leadership positions, fill up the technological space and invent things that will work for women” she said
During a panel discussion on different perspectives of gender equality, the programme manager YIAGA Africa, Ms. Efemena Ozugha said it was fundamental for women and girls especially young girls to collectively work together to raise the bar on gender equality in their schools and work places.
“Collective action of young women, old women, women with disability coming together can give us the kind of power we need to generate the change we desire to see” she said
Other panellists spoke on the understanding of gender equality from the religious perspective and confirmed that both doctrines stand for equal rights for women and men as well as women right to hold leadership positions as exemplified in the holy books.
The conference also advocated for the need to push for the rights and inclusion of women with disabilities in political participation as well as need to address sexual and gender-based violence amongst women with disability putting their vulnerability into consideration.
Other high point of the conference was the sensitization of participants on the benefits of reusable sanitary pad to health of women and the sustainability of the environment.
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