By Justina Auta
Some stakeholders in gender equality have called for the implementation of gender-responsive policies to address challenges affecting women in the country.
They made the call in Abuja on Thursday at a book presentation, ‘Politics, X and Power’, authored by Adaora Sydney-Jack, Executive Director, Gender Strategy Advancement International (GSAI).
Sydney-Jack, while noting the challenges affecting women, urged governments at all levels to show the political will by involving more women in policy making and its implementation in the country.
“Government should show the political will not just in theory/semantics of getting more women involved in political offices alone.
“The political will should be in policymaking, because if women are part of policymaking and implementation, direct outcomes of more women in governance will be seen.
“Political parties need to reinvent the wheel by having women in leadership positions outside women leaders,” she said.
Speaking in the same vein, Amina Arong, the National Women Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said after 25 years of joining politics, nothing had changed in terms of women participation.
“I got into politics when I was 25 years old. 25 years later, I realised that nothing has changed in terms of women participation in politics.
“Our political space is shrinking for women. So, we’re asking for gender sensitive men to give us a chance on the table so that we can begin to talk about our own issues,” she said.
On her part, Monalisa Chinda, Founder of the Arise Monalisa Foundation, said it was about time for people began to look the way of women in terms of inclusion.
Earlier in his keynote address, Abubakar Sulaiman, the Director-General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), recommended the book, ‘Politics, X and Power’, saying that it would be useful for academics, researchers, students and policy makers, among others.
Dr Chima Amadi, the Guest Speaker, stressed on the need for Nigeria to focus on building solid democratic institutions, including the judiciary, electoral commission and legislature to uphold the rule of law and prevent abuse of power. (NAN)