By Demola Akinyemi, Ilorin

The United Nations Women has said that it would work towards ensuring that not less than 50,000 young women in North Central, Nigeria acquired decent jobs in male-dominated sectors such as management of water resources, procurement systems, agribusinesses, maritime and mining sectors by the year 2027.

This among others forms parts of the consensus reached at the end of a 3-day Zonal coordination mechanism meeting for the Six North Central states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), held in Ilorin, Kwara State capital.

UN Women over the years have succeeded in helping to create a unified approach to addressing gender disparities, enhancing women’s participation in decision-making, and ensuring that women’s voices are heard in all spheres of society.

Through these efforts, UN Women aims to advance gender equality and empower women, contributing to sustainable development and social justice globally.

Other targets of The UN Women by 2027 as highlighted in the communique include; ‘elaborates robust plan and action aimed at advancing GEWE in Nigeria with eight complimentary expected results which it is working with various partners to achieve by 2027. The expected results are as follows:
“the 36 States have developed and implemented costed Action plans of VAPP, CRA, CEDAW, resolution 1325 to advance Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) .

“10 out of the 36 States have achieved 35% female representation in decision-making positions in line with the national gender policy and at the national level.

” 36 men’s networks advocate and train men and boys at the State level on positive masculinities to advance Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE).

“1,000 Women’s Organizations and Enterprises in the 6 Geopolitical zones have strengthened capacities to carry out evidence-based/data-supported advocacies to influence and hold national and State governments Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) and reaching at least 6 million persons.

“funding for gender equality and women’s empowerment has increased by 20% both at the State and federal level
” 100,000 rural and market women have increased their access to resources, information, services, and technologies that enable them to create wealth including in the digital economy.
” all 36 States in Nigeria have a robust Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) coordination.

The United Nations Women also demanded for 15% minimum budget allocation for women’s programmes in the North Central states to achieve the cause of gender equality and effective women empowerment in the region.

The communique also noted that participants agreed on establishing targeted advocacy campaigns to engage key stakeholders, including government officials, political parties, and religious and community leaders, on the importance of budget allocations for women’s programmes.

They also called for the implementation of training programmes to enhance the skills of state representatives and line ministries in gender-responsive budgeting and planning.

Other modalities to achieve the goals of the meeting according to the communique included, monitoring and evaluation framework through the development of a comprehensive framework to monitor progress and impact, ensuring that data-driven decisions guide future initiatives, and fostering collaboration among states to share best practices and lessons learned, enhancing the overall effectiveness of gender coordination efforts.

Participants were unanimous in their commendation of the UN women for organizing the coordination meeting, training and the open day activity which brought together cross section of key stakeholders in the gender equality and women’s empowerment value chain.

“The coordination meeting was adopted as a strategic activity that needed to be sustained through the newly elected and inaugurated members of the north central coordination mechanism as one of the major outcomes of this event,” the communique added.

At the closing ceremony of the 3-day event, the Kwara state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, said the state is committed to fostering an environment where every individual, regardless of gender, has equal opportunities to thrive and contribute to the state’s growth.

The governor was represented by his special adviser on Media, Alh Bashiru Adigun while the commissioner for Women’s Affairs, Mrs Afolashade Opeyemi also delivered a keynote address at the opening ceremony of the programme.