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Make Laws to Ensure Gender Parity, Nigeria, Other West African countries Asked
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
Flash Flooding: Betara Clears Drainages, Gives Relief Materials in Biu
By: Michael Mike
Member representing Biu, Kwaya Kusar, Bayo, and Shani federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Muktar Betara Aliyu has swiftly responded to the devastating flood in his constituency by mobilizing emergency relief efforts to repair damaged areas and provide support to affected residents.
After a sudden flash flood that has hit several wards in Biu local government area, causing significant damage to homes and infrastructure, the lawmaker mobilized people to clear the drainage to forestall future reoccurrence.
He equally dispatched truckloads of relief materials to be shared to people affected by the flood.
The flood which was triggered by heavy rainfall recently, making overflowed bridges and inundated homes in various parts of the Biu.
According to recent of Biu town, Dauda Yusuf: “Rt. Hon. Muktar Betara Aliyu, the federal lawmaker representing Biu, Kwaya Kusar, Bayo, and Shani federal constituency in his usual manner has swiftly responded to the disaster that ravaged parts of Biu.
“He mobilized emergency relief efforts to repair damaged areas and provide support to affected residents.
“We could not have asked for better representative, Betara has always been supportive in all situations, in times of troubles just like this present flood and in times of celebration during Ramadans and many Sallahs, he always found something to give.”
A statement from Betara Youth Team (BYT) at the weekend, read that: “The feedback from the community resident was inspiring, and it is clear that this intervention will have a lasting impact on the lives of those who live there.
“Rt. Hon Muktar Betara Aliyu is committed to continuing to bring the benefits of democracy to his people and he will continue to work tirelessly to improve their lives.”
End
Troops repel attempted terrorist infiltration in Monguno, recover arms and supplies
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of Sector 3, Operation Hadin Kai, have repelled an attempted infiltration by terrorists into Monguno town through the Charlie 15 axis in Borno State.
Sources told Zagazola Makama on Sunday that the attempted attack occurred at about 0255 hours on Sunday but was swiftly repelled by alert troops who engaged the insurgents in a firefight.
The source said that during pursuit, the troops observed blood stains along the withdrawal route of the fleeing terrorists, suggesting that some of them may have sustained injuries.
Items recovered from the scene included seven rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, one PKT machine gun belt, an empty AK-47 rifle magazine, an RPG bomb, spaghetti, and a pair of slippers.
There was no casualty on the side of the troops, and there was no further contact with the terrorists as they retreated into the bush.
Troops repel attempted terrorist infiltration in Monguno, recover arms and supplies
Insecurity: ECOWAS Experts Adopt Training Policy for Standby Force
By: Michael Mike
Experts from the Economic Community of West African States has adopted a training policy for the region’s Standby force.
The policy details the kind and nature of trainings the Standby force will undergo to be able to fight against growing terrorism in the region.
The region has been under non-state actors’ in the Lake Chad and Sahel regions.
The ECOWAS standby force was activated to address the rising insecurity in the sub-region.
Though the regional body has activated its depot for deployment of soldiers for peace support operations, but the standby force has not yet swung into action.
The regional force, which is expected to comprise 5,000 troops, is part of a broader regional security strategy to curb terrorism and cross-border crimes.
Speaking at the closing of the two-day government experts’ validation meeting on the ECOWAS standby force training policy for peace support operations, Dr. Sani Adamu, Acting Director of Peacekeeping and Regional Security said the region now has a training policy for its Standby force.
Adamu said: “The ECOWAS Commission, as you know, is systematically putting in place processes and procedures to be able to accompany our member states and to also have peace and security in our region to continue to thrive.
“It’s within this context that the ECOWAS Standby force training Policy for Peace Support Operations was elaborated, and the document now before the governmental experts were reviewed, the document was fully reviewed, evaluated, and eventually adopted by all of you.
“What that symbolises is that from today’s henceforth, we have a standing document, a standard document for training of officers that are going for peace support operations.
“As you are all aware, the ECOWAS Commission is at the threshold of actually activating the ECOWAS Standby Force in its kinetic form to be able to fight, you know, against terrorism.
“It’s a scourge that is affecting our member states today, and the last meeting of the authority of Heads of State directed the Commission to actually deploy the ECOWAS Standby Force in its kinetic form to be able to fight this fight.”
Adamu also disclosed that the a meeting of ministers of finance will soon be converging in Abuja to discuss the ways and means of mobilising resources for the Standby Force.
He said: “I want to also disclose to you that the Commission is putting in place processes so as to have the Ministers of Finance as well as Ministers of Peace and Security of the region to converge in Abuja to be able to discuss the modalities, the ways and means of mobilising the technical and financial resources that will allow for the activation of this Standby Force to actually be in place.
“So in the coming weeks, everything will take place, and the internal resources that will be directed that we should mobilise will actually be in place so that we’ll be able to have the Standby Force fully activated and fully, you know, resourced.”
He also added, “It’s also important to say that other processes are in place to see that a robust Standby Force that is capable and also able to confront the menace in the region is the vision of the authority. It’s within that context that this meeting is also taking place to be able to allow for an effective and efficient operational readiness of the Standby Force.
All the contributing countries, have made pledges.”
He stressed: “Already the pledges that we needed, you know, for the activation of the Standby Force in its genitive form were already done. For instance, we have initial numbers, 1,650 were already pledged by our member states, and progressively, you know, the figure will increase to 5,000. So in all of this, ECOWAS is strongly and, you know, standing ready to continue to accompany our member states in this direction.”
Insecurity: ECOWAS Experts Adopt Training Policy for Standby Force
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