Make Laws to Ensure Gender Parity, Nigeria, Other West African countries Asked

By: Michael Mike

Nigeria and other countries in the West African sub-region has been asked to make laws that would ensure gender parity.

The call was made on Friday at the Opening of ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association (ECOFEPA) Town Hall Meeting in Abuja.

Speaking while declaring open the meeting, the Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Dr. Sidie Mohammed Tunis said it is pertinent to create an atmosphere of gender equality in the countries of the sub-region for growth and harmony.

Tunis who appreciated the demonstration of commitment and political will exhibited by President Julius Maada Bio of the Republic of Sierra Leone, who recently signed into law the landmark Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Bill 2022, guaranteeing the principles of inclusion, representation, participation, and a more responsive posture on gender, said: “We are hopeful that similar action will be replicated in all our Member States.”

The Speaker also acknowledge and commend the very important steps being taken by ECOWAS Member States to address Gender issues.

On the townhall meeting, he said: “My sincere anticipation is that the days that have been allocated to this event would no doubt open a vista of hope for democracy in our region.”

He said: “I am optimistic that the lessons learned at the end of this townhall meeting, would transcend our region. With our ambitious and vibrant young population, we have good reasons to look up to the future.”

He noted that the substance of the meeting, which is adequately captured in
the theme “Rejuvenate Democracy by giving voice to the young people”, is particularly timely, stressing that: “It is coming at a time when the gains we have made towards strengthening democracy in the sub-region is being eroded by the sudden and unfortunate resurgence of unconstitutional changes of Government in some Member States.”

He disclosed that the meeting was strategically aligned with the current ECOWAS Vision 2050, which places more emphasis on women and youth
development in the sub-region, and is aimed at maddressing some of the issues that have contributed to gender inequalities in the region, despite the progress made by most countries regarding women’s participation in the
economic and social sectors.

He said: “I am happy to note that the ECOWAS Parliament, through the ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association (ECOFEPA), has been a strong promoter of scaling up the number of female representations in politics and decision-making bodies in the subregion, by emphasizing the importance of shared values and common policies as a basis for peace and sustainable development.”

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Ann Iyonu urged the West Africa region to prioritize women and youth representation in governance as a way of improving the sub-region.

Iyonu empathized that democracy cannot thrive and function well if it is not inclusive, stating that Women and Youth are major components of the society who should play critical roles in leadership and governance.

She said that the townhall meeting aimed at giving voice to women and youth is timely but expressed disappointment over the low percentage of women elected into the next Assembly of Nigeria.

She also pointed out that women and youth representatives especially in the Parliaments of the West Africa region is very low compared to other regions in Africa where the gap has increasingly and progressively narrowed.

She narrated that in West Africa, only 15.7 percent of the average proportion of seats held by women in the national Parliaments which means the region is lacking behind other Parliaments in Africa like East Africa with 30.8 percent, Central Africa 21.7 percent, North Africa with 20.3 percent.

She however urged that there should be a conscious deliberate effort in changing the status quo of women and youth through education programmes that will boost the knowledge and skills of women and youth in the civic engagement, politics, leadership and public speaking through mentorship and networking opportunities.

She advocated for special seats to be dedicated to women and youth to increase the numbers, noting that “this might not be something we like to hear, out various governments will not like to hear it but one of the measures which we can use to increase the participation of women is to dedicate special seats to increase representation of women and youths in political positions especially in parliament to inspire and encourage more women and young people in politics.”

In her goodwill message, the Country Representative of UN Women, Beatrice Eyong thanked the Speaker for giving a budget for the activities of ECOFEPA. She emphasized the point of low representation of women in politics stating that the domination of the political space by one gender cannot continue to be encouraged especially with the increase number of women and youth in the region.

Make Laws to Ensure Gender Parity, Nigeria, Other West African countries Asked