Fred Itua, Abuja
An Abuja-based NGO, Helpline Foundation for the Needy, has identified the involvement of women leaders in mediation and peace processes as a panacea to lasting peace and sustainability.
The group said that until women are genuinely engaged in all spheres of decisionmaking, peace will continue to elude the global community, stressing that gender equality is the prerequisite for a better world.
Making this argument in Abuja during a world press conference to mark 2020 International Women’s Day, the President and Founder of Helpline Foundation for the Needy Abuja, Dr Jumai Ahmadu, told reporters that the commitment exhibited by the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, in gender equality was a step in the right direction
While commenting on the theme for 2020, ‘I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights’, Ahmadu noted that creating a gender-equal world is a collective responsibility, stressing that individual actions, conversations, behaviours and mindsets can have an impact on the larger society.
Ahmadu described gender inequality and discrimination against women and girls as an abuse that is crying out for attention, noting that gender equality is essential for economies and communities to thrive.
“Collectively, we can make change happen. Collectively, we can each help to create gender equality. Conversely, an equal world is an enabled world,” she noted.
She called on the girl child to embrace digital technology, warning that unless women play an equal role in designing digital technologies, progress on women’s rights could be reversed.
According to her, “like fears expressed in some quarters, I am deeply concerned by the male domination of technological professions in the universities and other vocational institutions. These tech hubs are already shaping the economies and societies of the future.
“Unless women play an equal role in designing digital technologies, progress on women’s rights could be reversed. I am of the opinion that women embracing digital technology can be a useful tool to change the narrative.”