The Oyo State Government has commenced moves to domesticate the Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) Policy, with a view to institutionalising the inclusion of women in government policies, programmes, budgeting, and economic opportunities across the state.
The initiative, being implemented by the Oyo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, in collaboration with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), is aimed at strengthening women’s participation in key sectors of the state’s economy and ensuring that government interventions adequately respond to their needs.
During the five-day exercise themed: “Domestication of Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) Policy”, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Mrs Joke Saani, said the domestication of the policy would take women’s economic empowerment beyond the traditional activities of the Ministry and make it a shared responsibility of all MDAs.
Saani explained that the policy would ensure that women’s interests were mainstreamed into government planning, budgeting and programmes across critical sectors, including agriculture, education, employment and solid minerals.
She said government interventions and empowerment initiatives, particularly in agricultural programmes involving the distribution of seedlings, fertilisers, and other inputs, must deliberately include women as beneficiaries, especially women living with disabilities and other persons with special needs.
Saani noted that the initiative represented a significant departure from a situation where the Ministry had to continually appeal to other MDAs to include women in their programmes, saying: “We are tired of pleading. This policy is no longer about pleading; it is about changing the architecture of governance.”
The Commissioner stated that the policy would create opportunities for women to move beyond micro-enterprises and gain greater access to capital, resources and economic opportunities in sectors traditionally dominated by men.
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She expressed confidence that the Oyo State Government, under Governor Seyi Makinde, would provide the political will required to ensure the effective implementation of the policy.
The leader of the NGF delegation, Olabisi Aina, a professor of sociology and specialist in gender development, said the exercise was aimed at changing the architecture of governance by ensuring that women’s economic empowerment was integrated into the operations of government.
Aina explained that the policy was not designed to create another programme for the Ministry of Women Affairs alone, but to make the inclusion of women a collective responsibility of all MDAs who should be able to demonstrate how women would benefit from their policies, programmes, and budgets, irrespective of the sector.
Aina emphasised that a successful society must deliberately consider women in its development agenda, saying the WEE Policy would provide a framework for ensuring that women’s economic interests were reflected in government planning, budgeting, and implementation.
Voice of Nigeria reports that the exercise is expected to culminate in a stakeholders’ workshop and validation of the findings before the policy is finalised and domesticated in Oyo State.
