The United Nations Women (UN Women) has expressed optimism that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will be a model for gender equality and women empowerment.
The United Nations’ body through its National Program Officer, Patience Ekioba, who spoke at the pre-launch of Abuja Accelerator programme, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for giving women a voice in his government.
With the theme, ‘Unifying Women for Global Impact’, the lunch was part of the side events to mark the 68th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68).
It served as a platform to bring together, 35 young females between the ages of 18 and 45 who are residents of the FCT to join the CSW68 event in New York.
The selected participants were those already delivering community empowerment impacts in FCT.
Speaking further, Ekioba informed that the CSW, an annual programme is always an excitement to witness as one of the biggest single gathering where issues around gender equality and women empowerment are discussed.
She said: “There are hundreds of topics that have been taken, there are resolutions they are going to come back with and there are also discussions on how to ensure that we take this further. Yearly, this event take place and yearly, new resolutions are made but they end there in New York. Sometimes, they are not taken forward.
“We are really hoping this time around that when they come back, we will sit down as a community and say, ‘this is what came out, what are the implication for Nigeria and how do we put into action, some of the things that have been agreed on so that by the time we go back in 2025, we will be able to say that we have been able to meet eight out of the 10 resolutions.
The Mandate Secretary, Women Affairs Secretariat (WAS), Dr. Adedayo Benjamins Laniyi, stated that other states have Ministry of Women Affairs but that was not obtainable in FCT.
“Departments and agencies were created but they were put together and named Secretariat. Before, we were under Social Development Secretariat but with the new agenda of the President, we now have Women Affairs Secretariat (WAS) in FCT.
“Women Affairs Secretariat was buried under Gender Development Department, which also under the Secretariat known as Social Development Secretariat.
“When the Minister of Federal Capital Territory came on board and discovered that women issues in Abuja were not on the front burner like in every other state, it led to the creation of WAS.”
Dr. Laniyi explained that Women Affairs Secretariat should not to be mistaken for the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs.
