From: Ali Abare, Gombe
Various stakeholders advocating for the passage of a law on Gender and Equal Opportunities in Gombe State have adopted the harmonised draft of the Bill.
The Bill, to be sponsored by the Gombe State Government, was adopted, on Thursday, after it was presented before a review committee comprising Ministry of Women Affairs officials, Civil Society Organisations, media as well as other relevant stakeholders.
The review exercise was sponsored by the UN Women currently advocating for the passage of the gender equality bill in three states namely, Plateau, Gombe and Adamawa.
Throwing more light on the issues, state Coordinator for the UN Women, Mrs. Rhoda Zira, explained that with stakeholders adopting the draft bill presented by the legal sub-committee, the equal opportunity draft bill has been forwarded to the state Ministry for Women Affairs for ratification.
” The ministry will now present the draft bill to the state Ministry of Justice which will later present the bill before the state House of Assembly” Mrs. Rhoda said.
She explained that the bill when passed into law would seek to protect the rights of women as enshrined in United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women passed in 2000.
“Fifteen years after the passage of the UNSCR 1325, there is widespread concern that progress made at the normative and policy levels has not been translated into significant improvements in the lives of women and girls in conflict and post conflicts countries” the UN Women said.
Mrs. Zira disclosed that the gender equality bill has already been passed into law in Plateau State while the process is ongoing in Adamawa State.
She appealed to stakeholders, particularly the media to advocate for the easy passage of the bill by educating the citizenry on the significance of saving women and girls from trauma and even death arising from conflict situations.