- By, Omolara Akintoye
In an efforts to address gender gap and promote equitable development as well as fairness in the nation’s democracy, among others, feminists, a women’s group, is canvassing for consensual and a more inclusive society.
These among others were the submission at two-day Feminists Womanifesto 2023 Retreat, a coalition of women-centred organisations in partnership with the MacAuthur Foundation, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, (WARDC) and Gender Technical Unit (GTU).
Former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, said accountability should be the basis of what democracy is all about because it is anchored on governance and rule of law which states that no man or woman is above the law.
Country Director, Ford Foundation West Africa, Funke Baruwa, also noted that the time was ripe for women to begin a constructive push.
“We must begin to push for consensus, build social capital for women and girls and we must stay united.
Consensus she pointed out stems from unity. “When we continue to build synergy across as a strong block and push for women inclusion, them there’ll be positive changes,” Baruwa said.
According to UN CEDAW Committee Representative, Geneva, Esther Msheila-Eghojiamen, building consensus was imperative for the women’s movement to survive.
While commending women for playing pivotal role in driving remarkable progress in various sectors, Country Director, Action Aid, Ene Obi, lament that women still face numerous challenges which must be addressed.
She therefore give the following recommendations: Focus more on capacity building, sensitisation, campaigns, work on number of women, among others.
“Action Aid firmly believes in our power of collaboration and we urge all stakeholders present here today to rise up to this. One of the second strategies we need to employ is capacity building. A lot more resources need to go into capacity building, especially for women at the grassroots,” she noted.
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The Executive Director, Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), Hansatu Adegbite, also said: “We need to understand the principle of return on investment. People invest where they can get returns. We must also identify critical male allies that we should engage with. There’s also a need for brand building. Changing behaviour, understanding the need to collaborate and forming relationships.”
Also, Prof. Joy Ezeilo of Women Aid Collective (WACOL) stressed that there was need for institutional mechanisms to combat gender inequality.
In the words of the Founder Women In Successful Careers (WISCAR), Amina Oyagbola, building consensus between the private sector and women’s movement remains very key.
“To achieve this, we must increase awareness because to create a change, you need to build a critical mass,” she advised.
Women, according to Bukky Mbamalu of Yiaga Africa need to build alliances, support women in politics, be involved in grassroots politics and also get younger females involved.