To address gender inequality and social exclusion in the North-East region YouLead Development Initiative alongside Mercy Corps organised a one-day summit to mitigate further consequences bedevilling women and youths.
PERISCOPE NIGERIA reports that the summit which held in Gombe has the theme; Breaking barriers: Accelerating gender response and social inclusion in North-East Nigeria.
Speaking in a keynote address, Retired civil servant Dr Rose Idi, lamented the challenges of people living around this region, adding that they have suffered neglect.
She said, “The region has suffered from disenfranchisement. The attempt is to break barriers, social construct, indoctrination and limitations on hazardous exposure. Generally, they say poverty bears the face of a woman, from reportage we are way behind development goals.
“It’s common to talk about women as most marginalised, discriminated, but in Nigeria 60 is under 30, so the inclusion of youth group are the most marginalised.”
While bemoaning the huge neglect of women and youth folks Idi added, “It’s deeply rooted is inferiority, lack of self confidence. The social divide is becoming sharper; you are either extremely rich or extremely poor, there is no middle class. Apart from the social divide there is poor literacy, maternal mortality, hunger, environmental degradation, energy crisis and leaves little of no room in the minds of average Nigerian to think of inclusion. Putting issues of inclusion in the front burner we may get a different result. Let’s look at what we have in it. We are not looking closely enough to harness what we have to improve our leadership recruitment process.”
On his part, Chief Executive Officer of YouLead360 Development Initiative Gambo Hassan, in his opening remarks called for mainstreaming of gender issues.
He said, “I’m happy we are here; we have stakeholders, government officials, and community leaders to discuss challenges and solutions. This will ensure inclusion and ensure mainstreaming of gender issues.”
Also, Cliff Stanley, Senior Program Manager at YouLead360 Development Initiative emphasised the initiative’s partnership with Mercy Corps’ Rural Resilience Activity, which identified marginalised communities affected by the Boko Haram insurgency. “We aim to amplify the voices of women, people with disabilities, and marginalised groups, ensuring their inclusion in decision-making processes and relief programs,” Stanley said.
Stanley highlighted the initiative’s objectives: promoting women’s participation in politics, finance, business, and policy-making; advocating for people with disabilities in civil service and private sectors; addressing cultural and religious barriers; and encouraging women’s independence and economic self-sufficiency.
“We want to see more women in frontline positions. In Abia State, 13 women were appointed permanent secretaries out of 24. This is the kind of inclusion we envision,” Stanley emphasised.
