Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, has reaffirmed the importance of empowering the girl-child and women in the development of any society.
The Commissioner stated this at the opening of a two-day advocacy meeting with stakeholders and capacity building workshop organised for Civil Society Organisations and relevant stakeholders to become key advocates in preventing Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Asaba, the state capital.
Aniagwu, who was represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Paul Osahor, noted that women had continued to play prominent roles in the family and the development of the nation.
He commended UNESCO and the Japanese Government for sponsoring the workshop and reiterated the commitment of the state government to support women, especially in advocating and creating awareness for women equality in the state.
“As a state, we will continue to support the course of promoting women and girls,” he said.
The Commissioner for Humanitarian and Community Support Services, Mrs Bridget Anyafulu, decried the continuous increase in cases of gender-based violence in the society and urged parents to go back and rebuild their families.
”As parents, we have failed in our homes and there is need for us to go back home to rebuild our homes.”
”We must look inward by keeping good relationship with our children to enable them trust us in case of any eventuality,” she said.
According to her, keeping a close tab on our children and wards wwould go a long way in checking the trend of gender-based violence in the society.
On her part, the Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mrs Rose Ezewu, while commending UNESCO for the workshop, said: “the ministry is glad that Delta State is among the few states in the country to benefit from this project.”
”There is no gainsaying the fact that women and the girl-child are the most vulnerable in our society today, especially in crisis situations and the various challenges occasioned by the effect of COVID-19 pandemic.”
”It is in recognition of this fact that the Governor Okowa Administration has made concerted efforts in empowering women and the girl-child to be self-sufficient through various women empowerment programmes in the state, ” she said.
Ezewu appealed to other well-meaning NGOs to emulate the Japanese Government and UNESCO in helping to make life easier for women and girls.
She assured the Japan-UNESCO team that together, “we shall be able to ensure that women and girls’ full potential is realised through this programme.”
In her remarks, Dr Nneka Okafor, the Officer in Charge of Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO Regional Office, said that the meeting was organised by UNESCO and the Japanese Government to provide second chance education opportunities, incorporating COVID-19 preventive measures for women and girls facing marginalisation.
The two-day workshop has the theme: “Empowerment of women and girls in marginalised communities for better well-being through education and advocacy”.
