2023: organisation introduces advocacy programme to increase women’s participation

Women in Management, Business and Public Service, WIMBIZ has constituted a Committee, ‘Women Advocacy Programme’, with a view to increasing participation and visibility of women in the forthcoming general elections.

The Executive Director, WIMBIZ, Hansatu Adegbite stated that the advocacy committee inaugurated has been mandated to plan and execute advocacy programmes on its behalf by drawing on its extensive women’s community-building history, adding that, the WIMBIZ advocacy committee’s current intervention is to support the 2022/2023 pre-election advocacy.

The advocacy committee’s mandate for this year is centered on the sensitisation of women and positively influencing their attitude towards the exercise of their civic duties during the upcoming general elections in 2023.

“This year’s campaign centers on informing and reminding women about their voting history, their rights, responsibilities, and rewards regarding voting, and encouraging women to perform their civic duty”.

“The theme is “Women and Civic Duties, Voters’ Attitude and Elections in Nigeria”. It will also feature a report, infomercials, and a mini-historical documentary on Nigeria’s suffragettes”, she said.

Also speaking on the WIMBIZ advocacy pillar as well as the 2022/2023 advocacy theme, the 2022 Advocacy Committee Chairperson, Ms. Ronke Onadeko reiterated that, the goal of WIMBIZ in its advocacy efforts is to increase women’s awareness of the historical journey in public and private participation and politics and advocate improvements in inclusion, participation, and visibility on all related indices.

“With the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 10 for gender equality and reducing inequalities respectively in view, the WIMBIZ advocacy pillar is focused on engaging both the public and private sectors and individuals through strategic partnerships, collaborations, and direct engagement while preparing females to position themselves to contribute to nation-building and performance of their civic duties”.

She noted that, “The goal for public sector engagement is to have a higher representation of women developed, equipped, and positioned to increase their representation at all levels of government and in politics for both appointive and elective roles from 3.8 percent to 30percent by 2030 and to increase the representation of women in the corporate sector occupying senior and executive positions”.

Vanguard/F.K