Women, Girls Urged to Ensure they Reach their Full Potential
President of African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) Nigeria Chapter, Mrs. Mady Asagba, has urged Nigerian women and girls, to make sure that they reach their full potential and fully participate in the work force.
Asagba said they can achieve this, through a very deliberate and intentional tackling of gender issues, and addressing the systematic barriers they face.
AWLA President said this last week in her opening speech at the AWLA 2018 International Conference, held at Nigerian Law School, Lagos, Nigeria.
The theme of the Conference was ‘The African Woman in Sustainable Develooment: The Road Map to 2030’.
According to Asagba, the Conference was organised to enhance greater synergy and networking, to brainstorm and proffer solutions to the peculiar challenges facing women and the girl child, in the African continent.
She said in the absence of clear statutory or constitutional rights, the reality is that, the future of the African woman looks bleak.
"There are so many injustices to deal with. These issues cover domestic violence, sexual violence, poverty, poor health, discrimination, cultural and religious impediments, lack of quality education, economic empowerment, access to justice and much more.
"The theme of this Conference, is very apt. I will want to refresh our memory, by saying that the historic journey of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also called Agenda 2030 was launched in 2016 after the world leaders at the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), signed a new global partnership for development which culminated into 17 goals. In the strict sense, these 17 target goals, are in essence, a universal call to action to end poverty, to protect the planet and to ensure that we all live in peace and prosperity.
"Briefly the 17 goals emphasised good health, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, envi- ronmental sustainability, zero hunger, quality education, peace, strong justice institutions and viable partnerships, to achieve all the goals mentioned here.
"Note that, these 17 goals are supposed to surpass the former 8 goals of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which ended in year 2015. Our dear ladies and gentlemen, can we just reflect for a second, by asking ourselves whether Africa has achieved the MDGs in the first place. And now that we are even trying to pursue the goals of the 2030 Agenda, let us remind ourselves that the journey is not far, although Africa has mapped out its Agenda 2063.
"Nevertheless, it is pertinent to state that, AWLA is deeply concerned with this universal call for action, hence the subthemes have been carefully chosen to identify and proffer workable solutions, not only for African governments, but also for the ordinary man and woman on the streets. Most especially women, I must say.
"This is critical because, when women are adversely affected, it impacts negatively on the family and the nation as a whole. Our sub-themes therefore, will examine how we can advance the human rights of women. On The Hague Conventions in Africa and the 2003 Maputo Protocol which guarantees comprehensive rights to African women, what has been the journey so far? What is the role of gender in global peace and security? What are the crimes against women? What is the plight of rural women and how can we infuse technology into their lives? How can we engage women who are in power? Access to Justice: whither the ADR? What is the African experience? Taxation: a burden or a tool for women advancement? In fact, all these and more issues, will be critically discussed so it will assist us to partner with government stakeholders, who will eventually integrate the goals into our national and local policies", she stated.
Asagba stressed the need to take a continuous look at women and empower them, so they can make significant difference, to enable them contribute their quota to the economy.