Female Roles in Nation Building

SPEAK WEDNESDAY ON BARRIES INHIBITING WOMEN’S ADVANCEMENT IN DECISION-MAKING ROLES

Female Roles in Nation Building, Gender Based Violence, Gender Equality, Girl Education / cfhinitiative

In recent decades, significant strides have been made toward gender equality in various spheres of life. However, despite these advancements, a substantial gender gap persists when it comes to women’s representation in decision-making roles across industries and sectors. The underrepresentation of women in positions of power and authority, particularly in decision-making capacities, remains a complex and concerning issue. Gender discrimination impedes women’s advancement in decision-making roles, economic empowerment, safety, and autonomy, which has an impact on the country’s GDP and economy. These stereotyping and unconscious biases are barriers to obtaining gender balance. They are also linked to larger sociological, political, economic, and governance issues. Furthermore, internal hurdles within women, along with insufficient leadership support, add to the imbalance. In Nigeria’s Senate and House of Representatives, men hold 96.5% of the 423 seats, while women only have 3.5%. In addition, during the recent Ministerial screening, out of 48 seats, less than 16% were occupied by women.
The primary factors contributing to the underrepresentation of women include:
A lack of effective government action;
Lower levels of female employment and education;
Sexism, sometimes but not always deriving from religion or traditional practices;
A corrupt and patronage-based political system;
Violence at elections, including against women candidates.
Additionally, within the professional sphere, despite notable growth in the number of women occupying middle management positions over the past two decades, the proportion of female Chief Executive Officers within major corporations remains remarkably low. This discrepancy can be attributed to a variety of factors, including:
Inadequate exposure to line management roles.
Limited access to promising career paths.
Gender-related variations in linguistic styles and socialization.
Prevalent gender-based stereotypes.
The persistence of established networks favouring male advancement.
Superficial inclusion efforts, often referred to as tokenism.
However, this can be addressed with conscious efforts by the government, civil society, international organizations, and individuals. By deliberately and cooperatively addressing gender discrimination barriers in Nigeria through policy reforms, transformation of discriminatory cultural norms, provision of funds, mentoring, and leadership training, women can attain greater participation and prosper in leadership roles.
According to the UNDP, gender equality (Goal 5) will help to enable women’s full and effective involvement and equal chances for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life.
Speak Wednesday is an initiative of CFHI to address issues around gender-based violence and gender bias.
#SpeakWednesday #GenderEquality #GenderDiscrimination #WomenInLeadership

REFERENCES
Kelly, L. (2019). Barriers and enablers for women’s participation in governance in Nigeria. K4D Helpdesk Report. Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies.
Oakley, J.G. Gender-based Barriers to Senior Management Positions: Understanding the Scarcity of Female CEOs. Journal of Business Ethics 27, 321–334 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006226129868
Kayode Oyero. (2023). #IWD2023: Women Get 15 Out Of 423 Senate, Reps Seats.
https://www.channelstv.com/2023/03/08/iwd-women-get-15-out-of-423-senate-reps-seats/

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SPEAK WEDNESDAY ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WOMEN IN POLITICS

Female Roles in Nation Building, Gender Equality, Nation Building, Politics, Speak Wednesday, Women, Women in Leadership, Women's Rights / cfhinitiative

The significance of women’s involvement in politics cannot be emphasized enough when it comes to promoting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Women have been inadequately represented in politics throughout history due to various cultural factors. On the other hand, recent advances by women in politics have proven the importance of equal representation for women in this sphere. Despite advances in some areas, women in Nigeria face several hurdles when entering politics. Traditional gender roles, patriarchal conventions, and negative stereotypes frequently impede women from seeking active engagement in politics.

In Nigeria, the National Gender Policy (NGP) was created in 2006 to address the gender imbalance. The NGP advocates for a 35% Affirmative Action (AA) to ensure women are adequately represented in all governance processes.

Significantly, women in leadership positions, especially in developing nations, have the obligation and the potential to affect their society through leadership, particularly when empowered. Women who are empowered can aspirate for, achieve, and excel in leadership roles while also playing their roles at home.

Women are empowered when educated, exposed, and given economic freedom. Women in leadership roles have had an excellent social impact throughout history and in every nation. Such women have a long history in human history. Notably, influential figures such as Okonjo Iweala and Dora Akunyili have demonstrated that women can significantly contribute to a country’s political economy.

Speak Wednesday is an initiative of CFHI to address issues around gender-based violence and gender bias.

#SpeakWednesday #WomenInPolitics #Women’sRights #GenderStereotype #GenderBias #GenderInequality

REFERENCES

Emeka, E. O & Monica, E. A. 2015. Women and Leadership in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects.

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SPEAK WEDNESDAY

Female Roles in Nation Building, Gender, Gender Equality, Speak Wednesday, Women's Rights / cfhinitiative

THE IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Women empowerment refers to complete emancipation of women from socio-economic shackles of dependency and deprivations. Often made synonymous to gender equality, the term women empowerment encompasses a much larger set of principles that needs whole-hearted attention. Empowerment of women would mean encouraging women to be self-reliant, economically independent, have positive self-esteem, generate confidence to face any difficult situation and incite active participation in various socio-political development endeavours.

The growing conscience is to accept women as individuals capable of making rational and educated decisions about them as well as the society, increasing and improving the economic, political and legal strength of the women, to ensure equal right as men, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for their families and communities.

Women empowerment in its actuality is synonymous with complete development of the community. An educated woman, with knowledge about health, hygiene, cleanliness is capable of creating a better disease-free environment for her family. A self-employed woman is capable of contributing not only to her family’s finances, but also contributes towards the country’s economic development. A shared source of income is much more likely to uplift the quality of life than a single income household and more often than not helps the family come out of poverty trap.

Women aware of their legal rights are less likely to be victims of domestic violence or other forms of exploitations. Basic legal information about rights and knowledge on the different acts like the Matrimony act and Domestic Violence act, is vital for any woman to have, as this knowledge will empower them to be able to better handle such situations for themselves as well as those around them who might find themselves in such situation.

When women are living safe, fulfilled and productive lives, they can reach their full potential. Contributing their skills to the workforce and can raise happier and healthier children. A key part of this empowerment is through education, training, awareness raising, building self-confidence, expansion of choices, increased access to and control over resources, and actions to transform the structures and institutions that reinforce and perpetuate gender discrimination and inequality. These are important tools for empowering women and girls to claim their rights which leads to community/national development.

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SPEAK WEDNESDAY

Female Roles in Nation Building, Gender, Gender Based Violence, Health, Health Communication, Mental Health, Postpartum Depression, Speak Wednesday, Teenage Pregnancy, WHO, Women, Women Education, Women's Rights / cfhinitiative

EFFECTS OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY

Effects of Teenage Pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy is pregnancy in a woman 19 years of age or younger. A woman can get pregnant if she has vaginal sex with a man at any age after she’s begun having regular monthly periods.

Teenage pregnancies are a global problem that occurs in high, middle, and low income countries. However, there is a higher prevalence in marginalized communities, commonly driven by poverty and lack of education and employment opportunities. According to World Health Organisation (W.H.O), approximately 16 million girls aged 15 to 19 years and 2.5 million girls under 16 years give birth each year in developing regions and the leading cause of mortality for this age group is complication during pregnancy and childbirth. Many girls face considerable pressure to marry early and become mothers at a tender age. Teenage pregnancy increases when girls are denied the right to make decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and well-being.

Studies show that teen mothers face significant levels of stress that can lead to increased mental health concerns. In addition to higher rates of postpartum depression, teenage mothers have higher rates of depression. Pregnant teens also have a higher chance of becoming anemic which is a reduction in the number of red blood cells (RBCs). This can make you feel weak and tired and can affect your baby’s development. They also have higher rates of suicidal ideation than their peers who aren’t mothers. Teen mothers are more likely to experience posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than other teenage women, as well and this is attributed to the fact that they are more likely to have gone through mental and/or physical abuse.

Many pregnant teens drop out of school, and some never complete their education which means that a large proportion of mothers who get pregnant as teenagers live in poverty and are not able to realize their full potential. Their children are not left out also, born to a teenage mother, they have greater risk for lower birth weight and infant mortality; less prepared to enter kindergarten; are more likely to be incarcerated at some time during adolescence; are more likely to drop out of high school; are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed as a young adult.

When teenagers engage in sexual relationships, they do not think about the consequences. That is why it is pertinent to invest much in the issue of reproductive health with more emphasis on adopting the right attitudes about responsible sexual behavior.

Speak Wednesday is an initiative of CFHI to address issues of gender based violence and gender inequality. Join us every Wednesday on all our social media platforms for more episodes.

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SPEAK WEDNESDAY

Community Development, Female Roles in Nation Building, Nation Building, Speak Wednesday, Women, Women in Leadership / cfhinitiative

Nation Building encourages active participation of all citizens of a nation in order to reduce social and economic disparities, create an enabling environment for citizens to display their identities, cultures, languages and religions without any form of discrimination, maintain a politically stable environment, and enjoy the potentials of its human resource.

In Nigeria, women have made indelible contributions through active participation to advance the nation dating from the pre-colonial era. Late Queen Amina was a Hausa warrior from the city of Zazzau, present day Zaria in Nigeria. She was the first to become queen in a male-dominated society. Tales of her exploits include expanding the territory of the Hausa people of North Africa to the largest in history, creating routes for trade throughout Northern Africa, ordering the construction of fortifications called ‘Amina Walls’ and introducing the cultivation of Kola nuts within the region.

The pre-independence era featured the likes of Margret Ekpo, Janet Nwadiogo Mogelu and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti who were politicians and activists championing the cause to fight discriminatory and oppressive forms of colonialism committed against women and to protest against incessant killings of innocent citizens. Their activities set the pace for the advancement of gender equality in Nigeria.

More women are populating various professions and sectors in present times contributing greatly to the economic workforce. Through engaging in formal and informal labour, many women have improved the livelihood of their families through their incomes and have become strong contributors to the national economy. Others have introduced reform programs and enacted policies that have helped stabilize the nation’s economy, encourage government transparency, and advance progress. Ngozi-Okonjo-Iweala, Late Dr. Dora Akunyili and Dr. Oby Ezekwesili are few examples of such women.

According to Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, “When we empower women, we empower communities, nations and the entire human family.” As key players in national development, nations must continue to empower women by investing in girl-child education, enacting female-friendly policies, promoting programs that support women, and ending harmful practices that abuse their rights as humans to enhance development.

Speak Wednesday is an initiative of Centre for Family Health Initiative to stop the cycle of domestic violence by breaking the silence around gender based violence and gender bias. Join us every Wednesday on all our social media handles for more episodes.

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