The Akwa Ibom Deputy Governor, Sen. Akon Eyakenyi, has called for a conscious and deliberate action on empowering women to boost the economy and mitigate the present economic hardship in the country.
Eyakenyi made the call during the Post 68th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Review Conference organised by the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare in Uyo on Wednesday.
She noted that training and re-training of women will help in the speedy development of the country.
Eyakenyi mentioned that poverty, underdevelopment and cultural biases remain the core factors encouraging gender inequality and discrimination against women
The Deputy Governor represented by her Permanent Secretary, Dr. Grace Jim, lamented that all over the world women are more affected by illiteracy, poverty, violence, sexual abuse and political marginalization than their male counterparts.
“Let me say for the umpteenth time that gender inequality is at the root of global poverty, social upheavals and under development. By divine Providence, the global population is almost equally shared between the two genders.
“That also presupposes approximating equal opportunities between them. But reality points to the contrary, the World over. All over the World, women are more affected by illiteracy, poverty, violence, sexual abuse and political marginalization than their male counterparts.
“The main impediment to gender equality is cultural bias which has made women willingly surrender to the place of subservience and mediocrity.
“This is a real problem which is by no means insurmountable. I concede to the efforts made to redress this anomaly but the gains have remained too marginal and slow,” she said.
However, Eyakenyi stressed that for gender inequality to be irreversibly addressed, there must be political will and sustained efforts by everyone.
She noted that the successive administrations in the State has done a lot in the political inclusion of women and was committed to ensure that women are fully empowered.
In her opening address, the Commissioner of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Dr. Ini Adiakpan noted that the the event was to carefully review the developmental impact of CSW initiatives on women and to brainstorm strategies for women’s greater achievements.
Blueprint reports that the theme of the conference is “Count Her In: Accelerate Gender Equality through Women Empowerment” and the event features paper presentations such as “Analysis of Gender Equality in Akwa Ibom State 30 years after Beijing Conference,” ” Strategies to Promote Gender Equality and Inclusion,” “Our Children, Our Secured Future,” among others.
