From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The UN Women through the Joint EU-UN Spotlight Initiative in collaboration with leading women from the creative arts industry launched the Nigerian Chapter of the Forum for Women in Film and Television International (WIFTI), at the weekend.
UN Women Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Comfort Lamptey, said that the initiative is to assure women in the creative arts industry come together to help advance women’s rights.
She explained that WIFTI is a global network dedicated to advancing professional development and achievement for women working in all areas of film, video, and other screen-based media. In recognition of the important role that the media and entertainment industry play in shaping attitudes, norms and culture within society, the launch of the WIFTI Network Nigeria Chapter will provide an important organising platform for women in film and television to respond to gender-related priorities within their industry, whilst also facilitating their efforts to champion gender equality and women’s empowerment more broadly in Nigeria.
According to Lamptey, “As much as we work to support the government to translate international commitment on women’s rights into practice, and into laws and policies on the ground, we are also very much an organization rooted in women’s movement in civil society, because we believe when women come together as a collective, they are a powerful force for change.
She added: “our mandate of really supporting in this case, women in the creative arts industry to come together to help advance women’s rights is the key factor here. It’s important for women’s rights in Nigeria and it is important for us to ensure all hands are on deck to support the work on gender, the 2020 global gender gap index places Nigeria at 128 out of 153 countries, there is a lot to work to be done. This shows why this partnership with the Forum for Women in Film and Television is extremely important”.
Convener WIFTI Nigeria, Ajoke Silva, on her part appreciated the immense support from UN Women on the push to begin the Nigerian Network of this chapter.
She said, “We have all been working individually on advocating for women rights in the film industry, working with UN Women brought us together to work as a collective and to work in collaboration on issues that we believe affect women and girls, we know the power that we carry in this influential sector, we know we have the power to shape minds, now we are going to learn together and work together for the good of woman kind, for the good of human kind and for the good of Nigeria”.
The EU Representative, Esme Stuart said: “Gender base violence is a threat to the world, it is simply unacceptable and we need to rise up and speak against it.”
The Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen expressed her thanks to UN Women and Silva for putting together the Launch of the Forum for Women in Film and Television, Nigeria.
According to her, “This forum clearly shows that there is hope for Nigerian Women, this has set the tone for other women organizations to also follow. We can never address pertinent issues without having women in the room, through this network, I believe a lot can be done. We can make progress through positive media delivery”.
Drawing attention to 30th year commemoration of the 16th Days of Activism Campaign against Gender-Based Violence, the Minister of Women Affairs utilized the opportunity to call for the end to violence against women and girls, while stressing the importance for victims to speak out in other for justice to be served.
First Lady of Kebbi State, Dr. Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu, on her part described cervical cancer as a gender based violence, noting that it is the greatest violence being committed against girls in low income areas.
She further noted that Cervical cancer, which is caused by HPV — a common sexually transmitted infection — is preventable with reliable and safe vaccines, and also curable if caught early and treated. She urged those in the television and film industry to use their voice to propagate the message so as to save lives.
Also in attendance at the launch of this network were Rita Dominic, Actor; Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, John Donnelly, and United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard.