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Tag: UNDP

  • UNESCO builds leadership capacity in women

    UNESCO builds leadership capacity in women

    Worried by the low response of Nigerians to issues of governance and leadership ahead of the 2015 general elections, the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has engaged women on a series of trainings to increase women participation in leadership and governance.

    The training entitled “Gender Transformative Training Workshop (TOT) had been held in Lagos and Gombe before coming to Rivers State. It was organised with the support of four other international bodies.

    The organisers said it was aimed at helping women unleash their potentials in the development quest of the nation.

    Prof. Funmi Soetan of the Department of Economics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife,  a  Gender and Development Specialist,  said the workshop was necessitated by the fact that: “We’ve noticed that although women constitute roughly 60 per cent of Nigeria population, when it comes to their participation in leadership and decision making, they are less than 10 per cent. What this means is that we are neglected, wasting, overlooking roughly half of our human resources, their contributions and potential.  They cannot contribute their potential to development.”

    She went on: “This is a great loss to our nation, and we want to rectify it.  It is for this reason that the UKaid, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA),  European Union (EU), and United Nation Development Programme (UNDP), are supporting United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO),  to organise the workshop.

    For Prof. Rosemary Oko of the Department of Agric-Economics, Delta State University, contrary to the assumption in many Christian quarters that politics is not for serious Christians, she encouraged Christians to embrace politics.

    She said: “One of the issues that have been identified as hindrance to women participation in politics and other leadership position is the mind-set that politics is not for certain group of people, women, Christians, among others.

    “For the Christians, men and women, I don’t believe that God is against politics but sin.”

    Dr. Eteng Etobe, a lecturer in the Department of Sociology of the University of Calabar, called on women to take the lead.

    “Our women in Nigeria have been relegated to the background to the extent that their potential/ contributions to societal development have been shielded off.

    “I am advocating for a chance for women in core leadership positions in the country. The ideas some men hold about women being too tough, stringent in their decisions among others are the stereotype we are strongly campaigning against.

    “I call on women to rise up against this injustice on them by coming out enmass and embrace politics and leadership and give massive support to their colleagues when they come out in the next year’s general elections.”

     

     

  • SMEDAN, UNDP train women entrepreneurs

    SMEDAN, UNDP train women entrepreneurs

    •Target CBN’s 220b MSME funds

    The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have concluded the second phase of their economic empowerment programme for women-owned Cooperative Societies in Enugu, Enugu State.

    The programme drew from select states with hopes on leveraging the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) fund recently launched in Abuja by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Over 60 women, representing various Cooperative Societies from the North and South of the country, benefitted from entrepreneurship training.

    Speaking at the closing ceremony, the Director-General, SMEDAN, Alhaji Bature Umar Masari, who was represented on  by the Director of Enterprise Development and Promotion, Mrs Justina David, said the agency would explore the possibility of securing funding for the women-owned cooperative societies from the N220b CBN intervention fund.

    Commending the women for their commitment throughout the training, he noted that the women are now in a better position to access the CBN’s MSME Fund, as well as other soft loans from the federal government-owned development finance institutions. The institutions, he said, include the Bank of Industry (BOI) and Bank of Agriculture (BOA).

    Bature urged them to ensure that knowledge acquired in the course of the training reflect in their daily business activities. He called on the women to serve as examples and a shining light to other women entrepreneurs in their various communities.

    He commended the UNDP in Nigeria for their commitment to enhancing the capacity and development of women and making the training a reality.

    The UNDP Country Director, Dr Pa Lamin Beyai, urged women to share their knowledge with other members of their respective cooperative societies, noting that most African countries have similar demographic pattern where women form up to 50 per cent or more of the population.

  • UNDP trains 300 youths

    UNDP trains 300 youths

    The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area have equipped over 300 students with various skills.

    The UNDP vocational skill acquisition centre, which is managed by the council, offers training in catering and hotel management; fashion designing and tailoring; hairdressing and cosmetics; bead making and Information Communication Technology (ICT).

    Speaking at the 11th graduation of the centre at the council secretariat the council chairman, Hon Idris Bolaji Ariyoh said the centre has helped to reduce poverty as the youths are now gainfully engaged.

    “The establishment of this centre has gone a long way to eradicate poverty within our community thus reducing social vices to a minimal level. The centre has produced proficient youths who are a pride to this community. This has no doubt transformed our local government from being a den of hoodlums to a more peaceful and serene area,” he said.

    Also speaking the principal of the centre, Mrs Odusina Muhammed said the purpose for establishing the centre has been achieved.

    “It has helped the community to have sense of belonging.  It has also empowered those that do not have the well withal to further their education. We have trained many youths who are today employers of labour through the skills they have learnt,” she said.

    The council boss urged the grandaunds to make judicious use of the skills they have acquired to impact their lives and their families thereby impacting the community positively.

  • Africa’s economy to grow by 4.8%

    Africa’s economy to grow by 4.8%

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) and its development partners, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), have projected that Africa’s economic growth would expand by 4.8 per cent in 2014.

    They also said the growth rate would rise by 5.7 per cent in 2015.

    The projection is contained in AfDB’s “African Economic Outlook 2014” report which was released on Wednesday in Abuja.

    The annual report said that Africa had maintained an average growth of about four per cent, compared with three per cent for the global economy.

    It said the growth rate underscored the continent’s resilience to global “headwinds.”

    It added that the economic performance varied across regions with sub-Saharan Africa having five per cent in 2013 and 5.8 per cent projection in 2014.

    The report said that East and West Africa recorded the fastest growth in 2013 with six per cent respectively, adding that growth in low-income countries in the sub-regions also stood at six per cent.

    The bank disclosed that upper-middle-income countries in North and Southern Africa recorded low growth rates of below three per cent.

    It added that based on a gradual strengthening of the world economy and improvements in political and social stability in the countries currently in conflicts, Africa’s average growth could accelerate to five per cent in 2014.

    The report also said that the rate could also rise to 5.6 per cent in 2015, the levels that were last seen before the onset of the 2009 recession.

    The bank, however, hinted that “if the global economy should remain weak or if political and social tensions within Africa were to improve less than assumed, growth would be lower than projected.”

    According to the report, inflationary pressures have eased in many countries as energy prices have stopped rising and food prices have declined.

    “These developments, together with prudent fiscal policies, have provided some scope for monetary policy to reduce interest rates.

    “But in other countries where fiscal policy has been lax and where currencies have weakened, monetary policy has tightened to stem inflationary pressure,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the report saying on Wednesday.

  • Bayo Onanuga shows interest in Ogun senatorial seat

    Bayo Onanuga shows interest in Ogun senatorial seat

    The Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of Independent Communications Network Limited(ICNL), publishers of P.M. News and The News, Mr. Adebayo Onanuga, has urged the Federal Government to create a social security scheme to cushion poverty.

    Onanuga spoke yesterday in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, while declaring his intention to contest the Ogun East Senatorial District seat on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 elections.

    He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that social security was fundamental to economic stability.

    Onanuga said the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) statistics revealed that about 70 per cent of Nigerians live below one dollar daily, adding: “With a welfare programme in place, Nigerians can wake up without thinking about where the next meal will come from. It should not be a problem for any Nigerian who loses his job to pay his house rent.

    “A man who has worked for 35 to 40 years serving his country should not have to worry about life after retirement. Health delivery services are still generally expensive as many Nigerians cannot afford basic healthcare. Our country should look into instituting welfare programmes that would have positive impacts on our people.

    “Frustration and desperation force youths into vice and the first way to cushion the effects of unemployment is through social support.”

    He said his desire to contest the poll was driven by his passion to tackle poverty, unemployment and infrastructure deficits.

    Onanuga said: “Politics is not a do-or-die affair for me, but I believe that our nation is condemned to more decades of poverty until we put the right people in the right positions.”

     

  • ‘Ensure votes count in Ekiti, Osun elections’

    ‘Ensure votes count in Ekiti, Osun elections’

    STAKEHOLDERS at a one-day training programme for observers in the ongoing continuous voter registration exercise in Ekiti State have urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the efforts of voters are not wasted in the coming elections in Ekiti and Osun States.

    The training, which was attended by political parties and civil society organisations, was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with Democratic Governance for Development Project (UNDP/DGD ll).

    In an interaction with journalists, the National Chairman of Peoples Progressives Alliance (PPA), Comrade Peter Ameh, clarified that the expectations of Nigerians were that Ekiti and Osun State Elelctions should be free, fair and credible.

    Lamenting that democracy was yet to engender development in the country, Ameh said the training programme would strengthen democracy in the country.

    He said, “INEC should wake up and do the right thing in Ekiti and Osun to ensure that people have confidence in the electoral process.”

    In a welcome address, the representative of UNDP, Mr. Zikrullah Ibrahim, said the organisation attached much importance to the continuous registration exercise.

    Ibrahim said, “Ekiti election should be given every attention; we want to add value and credibility to what is happening in Ekiti,” noting, “We believe before we go to the field, it is necessary for the observers to know what to do on the field.”

    Other speakers at the event include the Coordinator of the training programme who is also the Director General, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Mr. Chibuike Mgbeahruike, who stated that INEC must do everything possible “to get it right and avoid every loophole that may likely truncate credible elections in the two states.”

     

  • ‘Life is about discovery

    ‘Life is about discovery

    IN the past few days the Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic empowerment invited women from different parts of the world to add their voices and share views to the e-discussion on “Enabling environment and legal incentives for women’s employment”. The project which is the initiative of the UNDP, UN Women and the World Bank Group started on the 15th and ends 29 January 2014.

    As you take a deeper look , you find that the focus basically is on laws that can enable and incentivize greater participation of women in the economy and in the labour market.

    The discussion also aims to seek inputs on successful advocacy initiatives that have been able to influence policies, laws, and programmes that incentivize women’s employment and that encourage and accelerate reform.

    These efforts are in line with the Women’s Empowerment principles (WEP), which are a set of Principles for business offering guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. They are the result of a collaboration between the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Global Compact . At different levels the empowerment chain continues and there is no doubt that the required awareness has been created. However there is a need to consistently identify women with potentials and help them take their dreams to the next level.

    Naomi Ibe was unemployed for so many years but instead of getting frustrated with her situation , she had to create a job for herself. “ I trained in Information Technology and began to think of opportunity that could be made use of. In the process , I discovered that life is about discovery. It is not everything that you are taught in the classroom or in the university. What you are taught in the university is just the idea and it is likely to take you to the turning point if you are dedicated”.

    A few months after Ibe, who says he has an inquisitive mind, discovered that, there was nothing she could do offline that you can’t do online. “That brought about my going to the Internet for information, reading journals and surfing the net.”

    What discovery did she make ? “ I found out that there are different opportunities designed for the citizens. There are some jobs designed for housewives and every other professional. This included things like email processing, data processing, and article writing and so on. Others include blogging, online marketing and affiliate marketing.”

    Like Ibe, you also run into Feyikemi Dada,who was a casual worker fpr about six years. “ It was a tough part of my life but I was determined not to give up. I saved two thirds of the money I got because it was very small and gradually I began to buy some of the tools that I needed for my business. Today, I produce a collection of beautifully crafted products. The range consists of silk beddings, silk blankets, silk mattress toppers, silk filled pillows and silk filled duvets.”

    Asked why she settle for silk, Dada replies this way: “The idea was to have something luxurious to sleep in and it became a very interesting option. We did a survey and realised that some people like to sleep in cotton while others opted for silk .So we discovered that silk was actually a luxurious brand.” What has been the acceptance?“ Funny enough, I would say that it has been widely accepted. It doesn’t make you sweet like cotton at night. It breathes well. We also have the cotton and silk mix too.

     

  • Fed Govt, UNDP launch online jobs scheme

    Worried by the increasing rate of youth unemployment in the country, the Federal Government has launched an online job recruitment scheme to stem the trend.

    The programme, named the Junior Professional Officers Programme (JPOP)  is being organised in conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

    The Minister of Sports and Supervising Minister of Youth Development, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi who launched the scheme said interested youths are expected to submit their applications online to partake in the scheme.

    He said the Federal Government of Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU with the UNDP to participate in the programme.

    Abdullahi said, “the programme is a United Nation Programme for recruitment of young professionals to work with the UN system around the world for a period of one to two years depending on satisfactory performance.

    “The programme provides young professionals pursuing a career in development with hands-on experience in multilateral technical cooperation,“ he said.

    The Minister further added that the programme is opened to young people under the age of 32 years with a master’s degree or the equivalent with excellent information technology skills.

    The Permanent Secretary, Henry Akpan in his address said since the youth are the best partners and assets for future needs, it is necessary to invest heavily in them as their empowerment is of significance in the overall development of any nation.

     

     

  • Women key to Nigeria’s growth, says Onyeka Onwenu

    Women key to Nigeria’s growth, says Onyeka Onwenu

    Director-General of the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) Lady Onyeka Onwenu has said Nigeria will develop when women are given the recognition they deserve.

    Lady Onwenu, a notable artist, spoke yesterday at the opening of the Third Ekiti Gender Summit at the Adetiloye Hall in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.

    In attendance were Governor Kayode Fayemi, represented by his deputy, Prof. Modupe Adelabu; the governor’s wife, Erelu Bisi; and wives of the governors of Osun and Kwara states, Alhaja Serifat Aregbesola and Deaconness Omolewa Abdul-Fatai Ahmed.

    Also present were Minister of Women Affairs Hajia Zainab Maina, represented by Mrs. Bolatito Olaitan; Secretary to the State Government Ganiyu Owolabi; the Head of Service, Mr. Olubunmi Famosaya; and the representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ifeoma Maduekwe.

    Lady Onwenu said efforts to improve the status of women in Nigeria were championed by the NCWD through poverty reduction and skill acquisition programmes at the centre.

    She said despite efforts by the centre and other organisations, “gaps and obstacles still exist to the realisation of gender equality and women empowerment”.

    Lady Onwenu said: “Lack of available data to plan and dialogue for gender mainstreaming measures and male bias continue to remain a challenge.

    It is in recognition of this that NCWD established the National Gender Data Bank to provide information to various users.”

    Commending the Ekiti State government’s efforts to improve the lot of women and the creation of the Office of the Wife of the Governor, Onwenu said: “In Ekiti, you should be grateful to God for what he has done for you. I hope what is happening in Ekiti would be replicated across the country. Our concern now is not to apologise for womanhood. We will not beg for our rights. We will make sure we sustain advocacies to make everywoman aware of her rights. It is only then that Nigeria could be truly developed.”

    Fayemi urged women not to relent in the fight against oppression, saying: “Without women, there can be no nation. Men should be more interested in the health of their wives. When women said: “Fayemi is gender-sensitive. He has really fought for the restoration of women’s pride in Ekiti. Ensuring that women are well placed in the society and treating issues affecting them urgently is the fastest way to achieve national goals.”

    Mrs. Fayemi lamented the rising cases of violence against females, saying: “Despite efforts to protect women, the situation seems to be getting worse, going by daily occurrences of abuse of the female gender, some of which are simply bizarre.

    “The number of reported cases of sexual violence has increased, probably because people now know that the cases will be taken seriously and justice will be done, unlike what obtained in the past.

    “The number of active cases in the courts is encouraging. We hope victims of these violent sexual crimes will get justice and their cases will not be struck out on the grounds of frivolous technicalities.”

    Alhaja Aregbesola said: “Women are the majority in the world and no one should be allowed to cheat us.”

     

  • New Country Director for UNDP in Nigeria

    Dr. Pa Lamin Beyai has resumed as the new Country Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Office in Abuja, Nigeria.

    Beyai, a Gambian replaces Ms. Ade Mamonyane Lekoetje, who completed her tour of duty in Nigeria in August.

    Dr. Beyai comes to UNDP Nigeria with a experience spanning 25 years in private and public sectors – at national and international levels.

    Until his new posting, he was the Economic Advisor and Lead, Inclusive Growth Cluster, in the UNDP Country Office, Ghana.

    Beyai holds a PhD in Economics, with a focus on Health Economics from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London; a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, and a BSc in Economics from the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. He is married and has four children.