Minister advocates inclusion of women in peace processes

Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye has called for the inclusion of women in the nation’s peace building process to enable them have a sense of belonging and social cohesion

In a statement signed by the Ministry’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Mrs Grace Njoku on December 16, 2023, she disclosed that the Minister made the call during the 4th Annual Forum of Women, Peace and Security Sector Reference Group organised by the Ministry of Women Affairs in collaboration with UN Women and Nigerian Police Force (NPF) in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

She stated that women have the resilience to work towards ensuring a safe and united society that will provide an enabling environment for socio-economic growth and development of any nation, noting that this virtues also fall in line with the policy thrust of the Nigerian government.

According to the Minister, no peace talk can be actualized without the involvement of women in the process because they occupy a vital position in society, as mothers, daughters and sisters, the world over

She added that the new Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Administration is targeted to check insecurity and poverty alleviation among others while also ensuring social inclusion of all citizens

”Nigerian women are very important and fortunately for us, the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is all about women because he knows that when one woman is empowered, about 20 people are automatically empowered,” the Minister said.

Kennedy-Ohanenye therefore called on Nigerian Women to strive to attain greater heights in their respective careers so as to  contribute meaningfully to the growth and development of the nation.

The former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor (retired) in his keynote address observed that the multi dimensional and complex nature of women in our environment, demands an approach to accommodate inclusivity in the security sector in order to have a more peaceful and humane world.

He noted that although progress has been made in addressing the challenges in the process of women inclusion in the sector, the country was yet to attain the desired threshold.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun stated that the forum for Women, Peace and Security reference group serves as a platform for advocacy and gender responsive security sector especially, as it relates to women, children and the vulnerable in the society.

He added that the Conference with the theme: “Operationalization of gender and security policies: roles of security agencies in addressing emerging peace and security challenges in Nigeria,” has the potential to harness the strategic roles and responsibilities that women play in evolving strategies they provide in achieving peace and security in the country.