Stakeholders advocate empowerment of women through media, information literacy
By Angela Atabo/Perpetua Onuegbu
Stakeholders at a dialogue held in Abuja have advocated for the empowerment of women through Media and Information Literacy (MIL).
The stakeholders made the call at an Intergenerational Dialogue, which is part of the activities to commemorate the 2024 International Women’s Day.
They maintained that MIL was a sure way towards achieving gender equality in Nigerian politics and governance.
The theme of the dialogue was, “Media and Information Literacy: A Tool for Enhancing Women’s Inclusion in Politics and Governance’’.
The event was organised by the Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue Foundation (MILID Foundation).
The keynote Speaker, Mr Dapo Olorunyomi, said that gender inclusion in politics was faced with several challenges in the country.
Olorunyomi, the Publisher, Premium Times, said that despite constituting more than 50 per cent of the population, females held less than seven per cent of elective positions.
He added in his presentation entitled, “Enhancing Women’s Inclusion through Media and Information Literacy” that women still experienced discrimination while seeking for employment.
“Women lag behind in education and legal support, and they face broader social and economic inequalities, including limited access to resources, healthcare among others.
“MIL can empower women by helping them to gain access to diverse sources for information, building their skills and helping them to mobilise support, raise awareness and facilitate networking among women,” Olorunyomi said.
Mr Zissimos Vergo, Deputy Head of Delegation, Head of Politics, Press and Information Section, Delegation of the European Union to Nigeria and ECOWAS, reiterated the commitment of EU to inclusive governance in Nigeria.
Vergo said that the EU would assist Nigeria through electoral reforms and to ensure that gender bills are reintroduced to the 10th assembly.
“This will go a long way to increase the participation of women in politics, especially increasing the number of women in parliament across Nigeria.
“The number of women in parliament is low and some state houses of assembly do not even have a single woman,” Vergo noted.
Ms Chiamaka Okafor, Executive Director, MILID, said that the Foundation organised the dialogue to discuss and understand how the media was affecting women’s inclusion in politics and governance in Nigeria.
According to Okafor, the media plays a dominant role in defining the subordinate role that women play in politics and governance.
Ms Linda Akhigbe, Journalist and Special Adviser to the President on Strategic Communications, said MIL needed to be supported to address women’s needs.
Akhigbe called for consistent and deliberate action to always bring the issues of women to the limelight and to put activities in place to educate women, especially at the grassroots.
“Women need to be educated on how to talk to the press, there is also need to put policies and reforms in place to empower women.
“This is the time to that we need to begin to lobby lawmakers, traditional and religious rulers and make sure that these gender bills are passed to ensure more women in politics,” Akhigbe said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
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Edited by Francis Onyeukwu/Christiana Fadare
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