UN Women has advocated for an enabling environment for women to contribute, have their voices heard in developing and implementing solutions to address the root causes of conflict and promote peace, at all levels.
The UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Beatrice Eyong, made the call at the National Validation workshop of the 3rd National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security in Abuja, recently.
She explained that Nigeria’s decision to address contextualised women’s peace and security issues have been made possible with the adoption and implementation of the first and second National Action Plan (NAP) on women, peace and security, adopted in 2013 and 2017, respectively.
According to the UN representative, “Over the years, these efforts have contributed to remarkable achievements, including domestication of laws and policies that protect women and girls’ rights; increase in women’s participation and representation in traditional decision making structures; establishment of functional women, peace and security architecture; development of State Action Plans (SAPs) in 16 states, and local action plans, as well as enhancement of gender responsive security sector through the development Gender Policies and implementation mechanisms for security sector institutions Nigeria.”
She highlighted the efforts of UN Women in various areas, including women’s empowerment and in advocating for the inclusion of gender considerations in national budgets through collaboration with various stakeholders.
“UN Women’s interventions, focus on coordination, women’s peace and security, humanitarian action, women’s economic empowerment, women’s inclusion in governance, and ending violence against women and girls in Nigeria”. She added
Also speaking, Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy, stressed on the vital role of women’s empowerment in all national programs, noting that the lack of empowerment directly impacts the well-being of children and the broader Nigerian society.
The validation workshop organised by UN Women, Nigeria’s Ministry of Women Affairs supported by the Norwegian Government is aimed at finalizing the 3rd generation National Action Plan (2024-2029) for the implementation of UNSCR 1325.
It is also set to ensure that the policy document is not only accurate but also widely accepted and owned by diverse actors across various sectors in Nigeria.
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