Abuja, 18 May 2022 (TDI): On Tuesday, Geoffrey Onyeama, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Nigeria received the Letter of Credence of Beatrice Eyong, the Country Representative of UN Women to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Eyong has already been working in the country. A few days ago, on May 14, Eyong and other female heads of diplomatic missions attended the Eid-el Fitri Dinner organized by First Lady, Dr. Aisha Buhari. During the dinner, attendances agreed that advancing gender equality in Nigeria was top on the agenda.
Women’s Rights in Nigeria
The Nigerian government has been working with various local and international institutions in the field of women’s rights. According to the data from UN Women, 75% of legal frameworks under the SDG indicator, with a focus on violence against women, are in place. To be specific, the above legal frameworks aim to promote, enforce and monitor gender equality in Nigeria.
However, despite remarkable progress, there is still work needed to deal with in Nigeria to achieve gender equality. Until the end of 2020, only 46.7% of indicators needed to monitor the SDGs from a gender perspective were available. Moreover, several key areas need more effort. They are unpaid care and domestic work, key labor market indicators, such as the gender pay gap, and information and communications technology skills.
Therefore, the Nigerian government is still working hard with international organizations and local communities to make a difference. Furthermore, given that international organizations and governments excel in different areas, complementary and coordinated cooperation is extremely significant. This is what the Nigerian government and UN Women are working on.
UN Women in Nigeria
UN Women’s work in Nigeria is diversified. Different types of projects are designed to cope with different kinds of problems. For instance, on November 9, 2020, the government of Nigeria and UN Women jointly launched a campaign for generation equality in Nigeria. Also, on March 21, 2021, the last UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria, Comfort Lamptey, had discussions with gender activists in Nigeria. Participants in the dialogue did not only talk about gender equality but also disability rights. In addition, on March 15, 2022, UN Women established a 2nd Empowerment Hub in Nigeria. The full name of the hub is the Women and Girls Entrepreneurship Development and Empowerment Hub (WEDEH). The hub focuses on helping women and girls affected by conflicts.
The above examples can show the diversity and flexibility of UN Women’s work in Nigeria. With local and international, official, and public partnerships, UN Women in Nigeria is on its way to achieving further progress on gender equality and women’s rights in the country.
