This was announced yesterday in Abuja during a one-day strategic meeting with all state commissioners of women's affairs, according to Minister of Women Affairs Barrister Uju Kennedy-Ohaneye.
She stated that since the past approaches had not produced the intended effects and outcomes, the government is prepared to develop more effective ways to reach out to and improve the lives of rural residents, particularly impoverished Nigerian women and children.
Kennedy-Ohaneye notes, "This is the time to refocus ourselves because we are making the small mistake of not understanding who we are and what we need." She goes on to say that what works for other countries might not work for Nigeria. Let's not live based on the lives of others without considering our own future plans.
"The approach we're taking in the mistaken belief that it will solve our issues is actually making them worse. Have we considered the reasons for the failure of earlier strategies?
She continues, "We stand here and narration, we are narrating what someone else wrote for us," as she explains how new intervention forms are being developed to improve the lives of women and children. Since the branches of a dead tree cannot support themselves, we must rewrite the story by looking down to identify the core problems.
She stated that since the top-bottom approach has failed to yield the desired results, a bottom-up approach is required. All empowerment interventions intended for impoverished Nigerian women and children, including those from donor organizations, the United Nations (UN), the World Bank, and other bodies, must be directed at the poor who are found at the grassroots to ensure it teaches them.
Beatrice Eyong, the UN Women and ECOWAS Country Representative to Nigeria, announced that the UN would collaborate with the ministry and its goal of reimagining intervention at the grassroots level by providing technical support in conjunction with the Canadian government.
"If Nigeria is to meet the SDGs targets, gender equality and the protection of women's rights must be achieved," the speaker stated.
Women and men have equal opportunities, rights, and responsibilities in all areas of life, according to the definition of gender equality. It implies that both men and women can equally advance our country's development and reap its benefits.
In keeping with this, the Ministry of Women's Affairs is an essential organization in society that works nonstop to make gender equality a reality.
The Chief Child Protection Office of UNICEF, Ibrahim Sesay, discussed the importance of the strategy meeting by pointing out that it is a turning point for a coordinated effort to support government efforts in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly goal number five.
"The minister was fighting for women's rights in Nigeria and across the continent at the UN General Assembly (UNGA). She was promoting significant interventions, such as women's empowerment, not merely by word of mouth but also by outlining the major accomplishments of the administration led by President Ahmed Tinubu, his excellency, he remarked.
In her remarks, Dean of Commissioners Dr. Ini Adiakpan said that the states are prepared to work with the federal government to achieve important goals and policies on behalf of the Commissioners of Women Affairs in each state.
"We would like to maintain communication with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs in order to align our practices with those of the ministry," she stated.
We sincerely appreciate that you visited with us and that you moved straight away to put this into practice. We believe that this is a positive step, and we are confident that with this, our capacity will be