• Bags UNICEF FGM award at Gender Summit
The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has called on women to
utilize the opportunity of their participation in economic and
political activities to advance gender equality and sustainable
development for women empowerment.
Dr. Fayemi made the call on Tuesday in Ado-Ekiti while declaring open
the 4th Ekiti Gender Summit, organized by the office of the Wife of
Governor and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development,
themed: “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Post Beijing:
Political Will and Impact”.
The Governor said women’s participation in leadership, decision making
and community representation were pivotal to the promotion of gender
equality and achieving sustainable development.
He added that the unequal participation of women in decision making
and their unequal access to resources have compounded and widened the
existing gap of inequality in the country.
Fayemi, who lamented that a lot of women still live in abject poverty
and lack basic rights and freedom, called on men to be conscious of
gender- related issues and rally support to fight against gender
imbalance in such a manner that women would enjoy same freedom,
privileges and opportunities to flourish and reach their full
potential in all strata of life.
The Governor told the gathering that the tone of the theme of the
summit was in tandem with the various programmes designed and
implemented for the attainment of sustainable gender development in
the state.
He noted that the demonstration of his administrations strong
political will in the fulfilment of the provisions of the Beijing
Declaration had led to the enactment of gender friendly laws like the
Gender Based Violence (GBV) Prohibition Law, 2011 which was amended in
2019; Gender Equal opportunity law in 2013 and the domestication of
the National Gender Policy in 2012.
Governor Fayemi said aside the recent appointment of the first female
Head of Service in the state, Ekiti had the largest number of female
lawmakers in the country, in addition to having other women appointed
as Commissioners, Special Advisers, Chairmen and Members of boards and
commissions in actualization of the affirmative action policy that
allocated 35% of appointments into position of authority to women.
Fayemi, who is the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF),
assured participants of more commitments from his administration to
gender empowerment and gender equality.
He said series of Economic Empowerment Programmes have been
successfully implemented in which empowerment tools like grinding
machines, sewing machines, hair dryers and others were supplied to
indigent families across the state.
He explained that the state recently increased the maternity leave for
working mothers to six months in order to allow female Civil Servants
in the state have sufficient time to take care of their babies,
thereby enhancing their productivity at work.
Earlier, in her address, the Wife of the Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi,
who is also the convener of the Summit, said Ekiti State has a
reputable legal framework designed to promote gender equality and
empowerment, adding that a compendium of all the laws has been put
together and would be distributed to participants in the Summit.
The wife of the governor regretted that the political will and
supports women empowerment received during the first term of Fayemi
administration suffered set back immediately he left office in 2014.
A major highlight of the event was the presentation of the United
Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Female
Genital Mutilation (FGM) Award to the Governor by UNICEF
representative; Dr. Tushar Rane for being committed to the fight
against gender based violence.
Dignitaries at the Summit were the First Lady of Ondo State, Mrs.
Betty Akeredolu; First Lady of Osun State, Mrs. Kafayat Oyetola;
Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Funminiyi Afuye;
his Deputy, Hakeem Jamiu; Guest lecturer, Prof Bisi Aina of Obafemi
Awolowo University, Ile Ife; members of the State Executive Council
and their spousess, members of the House of Assembly and their wives,
female political office holders, female representative from security
agencies, representative from the Southwest states and other critical
stakeholders drawn from all walks of life.
