The Special Assistant to the President on African First Ladies Peace Mission, Dr. Mairo Al-Makura on Monday said the development of Africa cannot be achieved without women’s efforts and contributions.
Al-Makura said this at a presentation in celebration of International Women’s Day 2021 tagged “Women in leadership: ‘Achieving equal future in a Covid-19 world’ in Abuja.
International Women’s Day is celebrated every year across the globe on March 8.
She said the Mission celebrates African women who continuously play a crucial role in furthering peace on the continent.
She said, “we must not lose sight that gender equality and women’s rights are fundamental to the continent’s progress on peace, security and human rights.
“We recommit ourselves to advocate for the right to peace and protection for all women and girls across Africa.”
Al-Makura therefore urged Africa to empower and encourage African women and girls to ensure their participation in all decision-maki g levels.
In the same vein, the first lady of Kebbi State, Dr Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, has said rural women are more vulnerable to multiple forms of development imbalances such as low education, closely linked to poorer health outcomes, all forms of violence, lack of access to credit facilities and low financial empowerment.
Shinkafi-Bagudu who is a consultant paediatrician and founder of Medicaid Cancer Foundation, in a statement, said the average participation of women in politics in Nigeria has remained 6.7 per cent in both elective and appointive positions.
She stated that the percentage of National Bureau of Statistics is far below the global average of 22.5 per cent, Africa Regional Average of 23.4 per cent and West African Sub Regional Average of 15 percent
Shinkafi-Bagudu said International Women’s Day, 8th March, is a day set aside to applaud and recognize the progress made in achieving equality for women.
Building on this year’s International Women’s Day theme: ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world’, she said It highlights how women can be equal partners in decision-making processes, especially those regarding policymaking.
“This year, the need of the hour is to highlight the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The women of Kebbi State, like others in Nigeria, are mostly on subsistence income and suffered greatly in the lockdown,” she said.
Fortunately, she said many female-centric programmes of the government of Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu ameliorated this as grants and aid were made available to women in the state.
