ECOWAS Official Slams Women’s Exclusion From Head Of State

May 31, 2005 - (The Analyst) The Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Dr. Remi Artificial, has raised the question of why women were still being excluded from the much-coveted position of Head of State and government.

She noted, however that there was a higher level of political representatives of women in parliament and other public offices.
The ECOWAS deputy chief scribe made the remarks recently in Abuja, Nigeria, at a Conference on “Human Development and Growth; A Strategic Approach” organized by the Better Life Program for the African Rural Women, founded by Nigeria’s former First Lady Mariam Babanginda.

A number of foreign dignitaries, including Liberia’s Unity Party presidential contender Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, as well as a large number of non-governmental organizations executives were in attendance. A conference participant described the gathering as a clear demonstration of women’s commitment to identifying and agreeing on where more efforts are needed.

Dr. Aribisala said a lot of gains have been made by women in the productive sector. Citing an example, she said “We now have a sizeable number of women manufacturers, entrepreneurs (small and middle enterprises).” She said these women are now also involved in the banking and financial sector as chief executives and managers, etc.

Giving a historical perspective, she raised a number of questions: “Is the marginalization of women real or perceived? Is there a historical legacy that put women at a disadvantage in most African societies?

Is there an entrenched male domination in the structure of organizations and institutions? What are the cultural impediments against women that are manifested in schools, in the workplace, in the political arena, marriage and inheritance? How do we reverse gender in-balances?

How do we consolidate the gains made by women in the various spheres of life? How do we consolidate the gains in health sector, especially as it relates to reduced material mortality rates, increased life expectancy, and fertility rates?

How do we consolidate the gains in increased enrollment of girls in schools and how do we ensure that they are retained in schools?”

Also speaking at the occasion, Nigeria’s Minister of Women’s Affairs, Mrs. Obong Rita Akpan, said her government recognizes women empowerment and gender equality as the prerequisite to true democracy and sustainable development. She then commended the Better Life Programme for African Rural Women (BLPARW) – which organized the conference – on the choice of the theme and sub-themes.

Mrs. Akpan outlined several achievements, problems and challenges facing the women and cited the limitations of financial and human resources for promoting gender equality, low level of women’s participation in decision-making at all levels, the persistent violence against women, the application of gender sensitive indicators and sex disadvantage, among others as gaps in the promotion of gender equality.

She then made several suggestions for accelerating the approach for women’s achievement in gender equality for sustained human development and growth.

The recommendations include strengthening the mandate and resources of national gender machineries to facilitate their participation in the formulation, monitoring and evaluation of the integration of gender concerns in sectoral policies, programs and budgets.

She also proposed the enhancement of women’s participation in decision-making process, namely; affirmative action, sensitization and training.

The Nigerian Women Affairs Minister called for the institutionalization of gender mainstreaming in all sectoral ministries through sensitization and training of decision-makers.

She also suggested the development of adequate policies to promote women’s employment and entrepreneurship by encouraging female students to opt for science and technology.

She stressed the need for the development of indicators covering all social and economic sectors in each country to facilitate the follow-up and evaluation of gender programs, proposed the consolidation of the role of the NGOs to better serve gender issues and build women’s capacities.

The Nigerian Minister further recommended the strengthening of partnerships between governments and civil societal institutions in promoting gender mainstreaming and the implementation of related programs.

As head of the national women machinery in Nigeria, she showed appreciation for the fact that “We have an important role to play in advocacy and partnerships with civil society organizations in conducting education and information campaigns aimed at mainstreaming gender concerns.”

She then hoped that everyone was leaving the conference “richer in knowledge and strongly empowered. We need this empowerment if we are going to pursue the ambitious aims we have set at this meeting. More demands need to be made on governments to improve the overall status of women by providing adequate resources and capacity building initiatives and opportunities.”

She then submitted that strategic partnership articulated around the promotion of gender equality and equity would go a long way in making the world a better place for both men and women.

From: http://www.analystnewspaper.com/ecowas_slams_women_exclusion_from_head_of_state.htm