Bauchi State Govt. reviews 2017 gender policy

Bauchi State Ministry of Women Affairs, Child Development and Social Welfare has started the process to review the state’s gender policy as pivotal document for implementation and address challenges and provide opportunities.

The ministry’s Commissioner, Mrs Zainab Baban-Takko, made this known at a one-day consultative stakeholders meeting in Bauchi.

She said that the mandate of the ministry is to ensure the safety and welfare of women and children, which the gender policy strives to achieve, as well as serve as guide in policy implementation.

The commissioner said, “The last time the gender policy was reviewed was in 2017 and it is long overdue, so this review is coming at a time when the ministry is trying to rebrand.”

Baban-Takko added that the review would look at identified gender gaps, challenges and recommend amendments to the policy.

Earlier, Ms Deborah Tabara, the Gender and Reproductive Health Specialist and State Programme officer of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), said the gender policy is a legal framework that will help to improve the lives of women and children in Bauchi State.

She said the state government had provided an enabling environment for international partners to support the state across all sectors.

Tabara told participants that UNFPA’s mandates are to ensure a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.

She added that, “UNFPA does that through ending needs for family planning, ending Gender-Based Violence (GBV) practices, including Female Genital Mutilation, Child Early and Forced Marriage.”

The state’s Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mrs Theresa Omaga, urged the ministry to leverage on the agency’s platforms to engage women at the grassroots to make contributions toward the review of the policy.

Stakeholders at the meeting include international partners, civil society organisations, persons with disabilities and the media, who promised to take a critical look at the existing policy and make recommendations.