KADUNA 2ND ECONOMIC WOMEN EMPOWERMENT SUMMIT; el-Rufai Promises More Appointment For Women in Govt

Kaduna state Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai has pledged to give more women opportunities to serve by appointing them in his government.

He made the pledge at the 2nd Women Economic Empowerment Summit in Kaduna, with the theme: Enabling access and participation; Linking women to Resources.

The Kaduna state governor has three women serving in the cabinet as commissioners, while the state Head of Service is also a woman.

"My administration appreciates the important role women play in the development of the state", el-Rufai said.

He urged the women to develop a road map to guide the government in addressing the challenges facing them.

The government has already established gender desk in all Ministries Departments and Agencies in the state to address women issues, he said.

el-Rufai announced that the government plans to set up the Kaduna State Peace Commission and would appoint a woman as Executive Vice Chairman.

The bill to establish the Peace Commission is currently before the state House of Assembly awaiting approval, reports reveal.

The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, earlier in her address, said the success of the first Women Summit informed the hosting of another one to tackle challenges already identified.

"The ministry believes that access to timely information is of great importance to women businesses and empowerment".

"The summit is planned to explore knowledge, information technology and social linkages to enable women participate as full and informed players in the business environment".

"We have deliberately invited men and women from different professions and sectors to this summit to advise us on various areas we can work together for gender mainstreaming and social inclusion in our dear state", Hajia Baba disclosed.

The Honourable for Women Affairs, Kaduna state commended development partners and advocacy groups that facilitated the summit.

The summit was supported by Enhancing Nigerian Advocacy for Better Business Environment (ENABLE2), Synagos Nigeria, UNILIVER and Power Oil.

Meanwhile, the summit has set up eight syndicate groups to develop roadmap to tackle gender challenges from different business sectors including Agriculture, Education, Health, Governance, Commerce, Security and ICT.

One of the resource person, Katha Nwator said her organisation was working with the state authorities to address gaps in providing agricultural inputs to women farmers.

Nwator said challenges and gaps slowing down women participation in Agriculture, Health and Sanitation issues must be addressed.

Pledging her organisation's readiness, (Synergos Nigeria) to work with the Women Affairs and Agriculture ministries in order to address the issue of gender in agriculture,. she also said effort was being made to address the alleged fraudulent activities in fertiliser procurement by women and imposition of illegal taxes in parts of the state.

According to her, social media platform would be used to provide information among women farmers in the state.

She advised women farmers to register their cooperative groups in a well structured manner to enable them access various agriculture credit facilities.

(NAN)