By; MATTHEW UKACHUNWA , Lagos
A five-year project called Strategic Note 2018-2022 has been adopted by UN Women Nigeria Country Office in consultation with its development partners to support the government of Nigeria.
Strategic Note 2018-2022 was designed to enable its initiators advance gender equality and empowerment of women in Nigeria.
It outlined UN Women’s direction, objectives and approaches to support efforts of Nigerian governments to advance female gender rights.
According to the initiators of the rights- and development-driven package, Strategic Note 2018-2022 agenda is informed by the developmental and humanitarian priorities of the federal government of Nigeria as articulated in Nigeria’s Vision 20: 2020 of 2009.
The Strategic Note also supports the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017-2020), the National Gender Policy (2016), President Muhammad Buhari’s plan for the rebuilding of the North-East and the National Action for the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and other women, peace and security-related domestic and international policies.
Top on the priorities of the Strategic Note is to tackle perpetrators of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) with “cross-cutting emphasis.”
While elaborating on its crucial priorities, UN Women Nigeria declared: “Women’s leadership and economic empowerment are considered critical enablers of the strategic priorities.”
The group also disclosed the mode of operation for the programme. “UN Women will work with federal and state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, federal and state government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs),” it stressed.
Other partners include Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC),National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), among others.
The Strategic Note 2018-2022 outlined six priorities including helping more rural women to access productive resources and engage in sustainable agribusiness. It will also ensure “more commitments on women, peace and security are implemented by the government of Nigeria and the UN system;” and that more gender equality advocates influence peace and security.
