…engage menfolk to support gender mainstreaming
The wife of Abia State Governor Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu Ph.D. has cemented her stance in the advocacy and demand for greater access for women into public offices as well as positions of higher authority.
The First Lady made the commitment in her speech to commemorate the 2022 International Women’s Day celebration in Abia state.
She frowned at the underrepresentation of women in political offices and even private institutions and equally expressed dismay at the National Assembly’s recent unfair decision in dissenting the Pro-Women Bills presented therefore deterring the advances of women in the society.
“However, we shall not be deterred, but will continue with negotiations, dialogue, and advocacy to press home our demands for fairer treatment for women.”
Mrs. Ikpeazu, therefore, implored men to cast their support for the promotion of women to the forefront of leadership in all ramifications of life.
She expressed gratitude to God for the strides recorded by women in the world of work and their unsullied dedication to the family front noting that women are forever indispensable to society.
Worthy of note are Her Excellency’s efforts in the fight against Gender-Based Violence particularly in women and children through the creation of a sustainable state-wide mechanism to respond to and mitigate cases of gender-based violence.
“As First Lady of Abia State, I have committed some energy to fight to end GBV especially Violence against Women and Girls in my state putting in place a sustainable state-wide mechanism to respond and mitigate gender-based violence whenever it occurs.
This is done in the realization that GBV is an intricate expression of gender bias. The recent Award from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth Development agency, the Westminster Foundation is a testimony to what we have done.”
Mrs. Ikpeazu has also made moves in the legislature by advocating for the VAPP Law and other important bills such as the Obnoxious Widowhood Practices Bill, the Equal Opportunities Bill, a review of the Child Rights Law.
“Some of these laws including the VAPP Law, had been before the House for over four years and necessitated me going to interface with the lawmakers twice, where I was given the very rarest privilege of addressing a full plenary session on the floor of House. This has yielded huge results as the lawmakers have sped up the process of passing it.”
Women empowerment through seminars in ICT, leadership conferences, agricultural schemes, and other programmes are some of the measures also taken by Her Excellency to spur and inspire women and young girls in Abia state towards attaining their goals and breaking the female gender stereotype.
“In Abia, we also have a very strong system of economically empowering women with viable business ideas. We inject funds and other inputs into their business. Through the AWADEC Loan scheme, we have targeted about 500 women with loans that are improving their businesses. This is because we believe that economic empowerment of women is one way to break the gender bias.”
The First Lady seized the opportunity to charge women to shun hateful acts against fellow women, especially in politics but instead come together in support of women vying for political offices in the 2023 elections.
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