There has been renewed call for an increase in the number of women and youths participation in governance.
The call was reiterated at the ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association, ECOFEPA, Town hall meeting with the theme: Stimulating a Regional Dynamics for Mentoring Next Generation of Decision Makers taking place in Abuja, Nigeria.
The Townhall meeting is expected “to improve the communication and support link” between ECOFEPA and the participating women and youths networks, reduce skill gaps through active participation of women and youth capacity building sessions, boost self confidence of participants, increase involvement of women and youths in politics and set the stage for the establishment of sustained engagement with political young leaders so as to develop a road map that will stimulate a national dynamic for mentorship of young leaders.
The Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Parliament, Dr. Sidie Tunis, declaring the town hall meeting open, said the initiative will help deepen the integration process and scaling up social inclusion for citizens in the region.
Dr. Tunis explained that the town hall meeting is an opportunity for constituents to have a face-to-face interaction with their representatives and table their concerns for scaling up of social inclusion for citizens.
The Speaker said that “regional legislative body under his leadership has recognised the special role of women and youths as actors, agents, and beneficiaries of development and that they have made concrete commitments and taken tangible actions to ensure the integration of the gender dimension in all planned actions and activities of the Parliament, including policies, and programs.”
He expressed joy that the meeting was strategically aligned with the ECOWAS Vision 2050, which places more emphasis on women and youth development in the sub-region and would address some of the issues that have contributed to gender inequalities in the region, irrespective of the progress made by most countries regarding women’s participation in the economic and social sectors.
Budget Allocation
Dr. Tunis said allocation of a budget line to ECOFEPA and gender programs in the Parliament’s annual budget, has facilitated the empowerment of women and strengthened the fight against gender-based discrimination, all designed to address inequalities between men and women and to promote gender equality.
In her welcome address, the President of ECOFEPA, Hon. Worayr Sarr explained that the activity, which is strategically tied to the ECOWAS vision 2050, shared value and a desire to have a common future, maintaining that the objective can be realized if women are given more importance
She said that with over 350 women and youth gathered across the region, they are hoping to increase the number 10,000 by 2030.
Hon. Sarr, speaking on the increase of women participation in politics, recommended that various Government and MPs in the region should proactively and progressively implement the 30 per cent quota in their respective parliaments and delegations.
Prioritisation
The Executive Director of Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Ann Iyonu, charged the West African region to prioritize women and youth representation in governance as a way of improving the appalling percentage in the region and continent
“Democracy can not thrive and function well if it is not inclusive because women and youth are major components of the society who should play critical roles in leadership and governance.”
She said that the townhall meeting ‘aimed’ at giving voice to women and youth is timely but expressed disappointment over the low percentage of women elected in the 10th National Assembly of Nigeria and also pointed out that women and youth representatives especially in the Parliaments of the West Africa region is very low compared to other regions in Africa where the gap has increasingly and progressively narrowed.
She revealed that in West Africa, only 15.7 per cent of the average proportion of seats held by women in the national Parliaments which means the region is lacking behind other Parliaments in Africa like East Africa with 30.8 percent, Central Africa 21.7 per cent, North Africa with 20.3 per cent.
Domination
The Country Representative of UN Women, Beatrice Eyong emphasized the point of low representation of women in politics stating the domination of the political space by one gender cannot continue to be encouraged especially with the increase number of women and youth in the region.
Over 300 women and youths are participating in the Townhall meeting on “Rejuvenating Democracy by Giving Voice to Women and Youth.”
At the end of the two-day meeting, women and youth will be equipped with necessary competencies in governance and decision making.
ECOFEPA, which is made up of all female members of the ECOWAS Parliament, strategic objective is to partner with stakeholders within the ECOWAS region to scale up women and youth representation in ECOWAS member states.
Shakirat Sadiq
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