Commissioner Offers Insight Into International Women’s Day

This is the speech of the Rivers State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Joeba West on the occasion of the celebration of the International Women’s Day in Port Harcourt.

The International Women’s Day is observed globally by United Nations member-states including Nigeria.  It is a day set aside to celebrate women’s achievements and the roles women play in the development process.

This celebration dates back to March 19, 1911 in countries such as Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. It was to mark the day the Prussian King promised to introduce votes for women in 1884.  This promise gave hope for equality but it was not kept.

In 1975, the United Nations drew global attention to women’s concerns by calling for an International Women’s Year, and later an International Women’s Decade.  It was also in 1975 that the first World Conference on Women was organised in Mexico City and March was declared the International Women’s Day.

In 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations’ Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace, observed on any day of the year by member states, in accordance with their historical and National traditions.  For the United States, International Women’s Day has been observed on 8th March since 1975.  the day is traditionally marked with a message from the UN Secretary-General.

This year the United Nations theme for the International Women’s Day is “A Promise is a Promise: Time  for Action to End Violence against Women”.

The African Development Bank theme is “The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum”.

These themes are interwoven and will be jointly adopted for the celebration of the 2013 International Women’s Day in Rivers State.

This is because our focus is on the implementation of the Gender Policy, the 35% Affirmative Action and the emphasis we are placing on Gender as a core concept for achieving sustainable development.

Gender mainstreaming in Nigeria will improve women’s participation in politics, leadership, education, health economy and all sectors of human development.  People-oriented development must include females and males without bias or discrimination, contributing their quota according to their abilities towards development.

Rivers State women have never relented in building strong alliances for inclusion in governance and decision making.  They have contested for elective positions and have effectively participated in campaigns.  A few have emerged successful but more efforts need to be galvanized to involve more women in the mainstream of development.

The National Gender Policy posits that, promoting gender equality is globally accepted as a development strategy for reducing poverty levels among women and men, improving health and living standards and enhancing efficiency of public investments.

Gender equality is not only a human rights issue but a prerequisite for the achievement of sustainable development.

The United Nations theme focuses on violence against women which is a violation of the rights of women.  This crime occurs regularly in our society because men take advantage of the powerlessness of women economically, polticiallly, socially, culturally and perhaps physically.

The elimination of violence against women is still farfetched.  Wife battery, rape, forced prostitution, trafficking in women are forms of abuses that further dehumanize the women folk.  To end this threat on women, men and women must unite to create awareness for the achievement of behavioural change.

The Ministry of Women Affairs in collaboration with the Empowerment Support Initiative (ESI) a brain-child of the wife of the Executive Governor of Rivers State, Her Excellency, Dame Judith Amaechi, is using this medium to raise awareness on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (MDG3) and the elimination of violence against women in Rivers state at this year’s International Women’s Day.

As we join Nigeria and the International community to celebrate this event the Ministry has planned a state Summit which will hold on March 26th, 2013.  The Summit will feature Seminars  on the International Women’s Day themes, the inauguration of the State Council on Women Development and Special Maternal Health Programme by the Medical Women’s Association Rivers State Chapter.

It is  therefore my pleasure to implore all women and indeed men to join us to commemorate this  special event.

Thank you and God bless.