Ending discrimination against women

As the world marks International Women’s Day (IWD) , we wish to call for the total eradication of all forms of discrimination against women.

The call has become necessary in view of the fact that rural women constitute over a quarter of the world population and majority of the 43 percent of women are in the global agricultural labour force.

The International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on March 8, is an occasion which afford women all over the world the opportunity to address issues bordering on women especially rural women.

This year’s theme; “Time is Now: Rural and Urban Activists Transforming Women’s Lives”, is apt because there is no better time to address myriads of issues faced by women in this country.

The International Women’s Day which has been celebrated for 100 years is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, adding that the day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

Our Foundation wants to use the day to draw the attention of government at levels to the plight of women in the society. An average Nigeria woman goes through hardship to feed her family because of disparities in the country.

Government should as a matter of urgency pass every bill that is related to the women as well as look into policies that will better the living standard of the Nigeria women. The right and privileges of the women should be made paramount as government makes and execute her policies.

As this year’s theme, there is no better time than now for women to take their rightful place as home makers and administrators because a good mother produces a good leader.As women we have a lot to do in making sure our country have good leaders at all levels.

Regrettably, the United Nations reports that less than 20 percent of landholders worldwide are women, while the global pay gap between men and women stand at 23 percent, in rural areas and it can be as high as 40 percent in some cases.

To address this glaring pay gap between men and women in society, Helpline Foundation is one of the co-host of the ongoing United Nations Africa Women Conference in New York.

We therefore wish to call on all stakeholders to put all hands on deck to ensure a better life for the woman, as the Foundation has put several skill acquisition programmes in place to empower rural women in Nigeria.

Dr. (Mrs.) Jumai Ahmadu, President, Helpline Foundation for the Needy Abuja.