Women Economic Collectives in Nigeria under the Partnership for Advancing Women in Economic Development, PAWED, and the Micheal Imodu Institute for Labour Studies have commended the decision of the National Assembly to revisit the rejected bills as a great gift to Nigerian women at the day set aside by the United Nation to celebrate women.
Disclosing this during a conference organized by the Micheal Imodu Institute for Labour Studies in collaboration with the PAWED women collectives, the Director General of the Institute, Comrade Issa Aremu described the decision of the National Assembly as courageous, patriotic and good news for Nigeria.
While commending women in Nigeria for standing on their voices in the last few days during the debate on constitutional review, added that their vigilance and commitment to exercise their fundamental right to agitate is responsible for the decision of the national assembly to listen to their voices.
He then advised them to maintain this type of advocacy on issues relating to their right either economically or politically, adding that this success is a new era in women advocacy and struggle.
Earlier in her speech at the occasion, the Kwara State Commissioner for Business, Innovation, and Technology, Hajiya Arinola Lawal described the international women’s day as a day for women to come together to look at their condition and plan ways to ameliorate their situation through conferences, advocacy and engagement.
She disclosed that in Kwara state, women are having a joyous journey as they remain the only state with 50% representation in governance.
The commissioner assured that the journey will continue to get better for women in the state.
While taking a historical perspective on informal sector and the position of women, Professor Abikoye Oluwakemi Christiana of the University of Ilorin said that women in the informal sector continues to contribute significantly to national development as they constitute over 50% of national businesses in all sectors of the economy but have lower access to financial support that would improve their contribution to the nation’s economy.
She therefore called on women in the informal sector of the economy in Nigeria to scale up by fulfilling all registration requirements to enable them have access to finances and other invention of governments at all levels.
In her speech at the occasion, Senior Technical Advisor to the Partnership for Advancing Women in Economic Development, Mrs Taibat Hussain said that sustainable and transformational changes in Nigeria would be achieved through inclusiveness and engaging women in the informal sector.
According to her, women economic empowerment is necessary to ensure that majority of Nigerians benefit and contribute to national development, adding as 40% of Nigerian entrepreneurs are women, there is the need for deliberate policy to target them for national growth.
Highlight of the event was the recommendations issued in a communique signed by the women economic collectives.
These recommendations are that business registration process should be simplified for women Informal Sector Workers, there should be credit facilities, and other small business support for women Informal, and that sector Workers needed to boost their businesses and enjoy economies of scale.
The women collectives also called for Tax incentives and social insurance/ protection coverage should be extended to women in
informal sectors and the need for women Informal Sector Workers to form coalition like forming cooperatives, etc and being a member of formal business organization.
They also called on governments at all levels to subsidies and incentives for women Informal Sector Workers, adoption of finance and digital technologies by women Informal Sector Workers, and provide of basic infrastructure and services for women Informal Sector Workers.
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