ANRP Ekiti

A courtesy visit by the Tunde Afe and Sanusi Kazeem teamTASK to the Nigeria Union of journalist office ado-ekiti

PRESS RELEASE

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International Women’s Day 2018

ABUJA, 8 March, 2018 --

Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP) joins the Nigerian and the international community at large to celebrate 'Our Own' women today as we mark the 107th International Women's Day.

The first National Woman's Day was observed in the United States on 28 February, 1909. The Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions. Other countries followed suit as the global movement for women’s rights, gender parity, and universal suffrage grew. Eventually, during International Women's Year in 1975, the United Nations designated and began celebrating International Women's Day on 8 March. Since then, this day has been observed and celebrated globally as a day for recognizing and celebrating women and the achievements of women, while calling on gender equity and equality.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report quantifies the extent or magnitude of gender disparities and also tracks progress on gaps between males and females in the areas of (a) Economic Participation and Opportunity, (b) Educational Attainment, (c) Health and Survival, and (d) Political Empowerment. The reports indicate that year on year instead of progressing towards parity, our society is rather regressing, as the gender gap is widening. The 2016 report predicted that at the slow pace of improvement in the 4 key areas, it would take the world 170 years to attain gender parity. The most recent 2017 report states that it will now take 217 years for realising the full potentials of women, ie half of humankind. Available evidence in Nigeria proves worse. For instance, the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill has suffered the second indefinite postponement at the National Assembly. ANRP posits that this is unacceptable and supports desperate measures to reverse this trend in order to attain gender parity in our lifetimes.

Gender parity, ensuring the full development and skilful deployment of the vast talent and resourcefulness of women -- half of our population -- is critical for whether our economy and society grows, as well as if we are ready for the future. This, ANRP is committed to ensuring.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme calls reversing the retrogression, overcoming the resistance to attain gender parity, which would not be easy but doable. It seems to build on the momentum created by the unprecedented global awakening on gender parity, ending sexism, sexual harassment as exemplified by the movement.

ANRP’s Secretary for Gender Balancing and Youth Development, Ms Christiana Ojo says ‘The International Women's Day should not just be spent celebrating the achievements of women, and womanhood or merely discussing the myriads of women-related challenges, but should be a day, among many, spent to proffer sustainable and practical solutions to these challenges that have held a great number of women back from political and economic expression and evolution.’

ANRP stands for more inclusion and involvement of women in all policies and processes. Women are equal and productive partners, mainstreamed in all operations and structures, with equal opportunity in everything. This should be the standard practice in our society. This offers us the opportunity of tapping into a balanced reserve of ideas, styles, and creative capabilities of half our total population.

Whatever you do, think, act, and be gender inclusive. . Work towards gender parity.

Join us. Learn more about us at: www.anrp.org.ng

Sesugh Akume

National Spokesman

Office Telephone: 09064796674 (9 am-5 pm)
Email: [email protected]