The Junior Chamber International (JCI) Victoria Island has said that the attainment of gender parity remains very crucial for the country’s economic growth and development.
The organisation made this known recently when it celebrated the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women in various spheres to mark this year’s International Women’s Day with the theme ‘Be Bold For Change: Position of Women In The Changing Nigeria’.
The event was a call to accelerate gender parity in the country, build momentum for the effective implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially goal number five which is achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
“As a country we are currently celebrating the International Women’s Day but still do not have the framework to move the agenda,” said Morin Desalu, managing director, Risk Watch Insurance Brokers.
Desalu stated that the country had come a long way in achieving gender parity, noting that progress had been made but not fast enough to give women their place in the society.
She noted that if women are not amongst power-brokers, they cannot move their agenda because men are not expected to move agenda that affects women.
Also speaking, Bekeme Masade, executive director, CSR-in-Action, called on women to be bold in actualising their dreams, urging them to rightly position themselves for opportunities in the society.
“We need to keep on supporting women to be who they want to be. People are very worried about feminism but feminism is all about helping our men,” she said.
Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett, foremost Nigerian actress, said the place of women in the changing Nigeria is for women to take responsibility and be that change that they want.
“March 18 of every year is the day set aside by the United Nations to celebrate women. We take it as a responsibility to celebrate our own women by bringing a crop of fantastic women together to come and inspire young active citizens who can learn from them and take it to the next level,” said Abimbola Owosina, president, JCI Victoria Island.
Josephine Okojie
