THE Federal Ministry of Women Affairs (FMWA) has honoured the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) for supporting Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) policy.
The award was based on dPRC’s Partnership for Advancing Women in Economic Development (PAWED) project, which aims at building sustainable advocacy around WEE interventions, said the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, while awarding a national medal of recognition on dRPC in Abuja recently.
“The recognition bestowed upon the dRPC-PAWED by the National Council on Women’s Affairs is a testament to their exceptional dedication and impact. It highlights the pivotal role of civil society organisations in driving positive change and transforming women’s lives in Nigeria.
“This recognition will undoubtedly inspire other organisations and stakeholders to support women’s economic empowerment initiatives nationwide,” the minister said.
The Federal Government approved the WEE policy in May to improve women’s inclusion in economic development.
The policy was introduced due to gaps in previous efforts by the government to address a lack of gender inclusion.
“The Federal Government has identified the lack of a cohesive WEE policy and action plan as one of the most glaring policy gaps in its efforts to empower women. Despite initiating several multisectoral policies and plans targeting a wide range of issues, including WEE, Nigeria has never developed a stand-alone WEE policy document.
“Several studies have shown the need for a WEE policy to serve as a blueprint for all women’s economic interventions in diverse areas, including finance, entrepreneurship, climate change, agriculture, technology and education, to chart a course for completely transitioning women from having limited economic power, voice, and choice to having the skills, resources, and opportunities required to access and compete equitably in markets, as well as the agency to control and benefit from economic activities,” the WEE policy document read.
The World Bank 2018 Women Economic Empowerment Study shows that the non-inclusion of females can limit a nation’s development.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.