EU Seeks Women Inclusion In Governance.

European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Samuela Isopi, has stated that the active participation of women in decision-making and politics remained important if Nigeria was to achieve equality, sustainable development, peace, and democracy.

She noted that while women have the fundamental right to participate in political life, most of them still faced a lot of social, cultural, and financial challenges.

The EU representative reminded stakeholders, especially the National Assembly, that the ongoing constitution reform process presented Nigeria with a unique opportunity to join the league of progressive nations in promoting gender parity through the adoption of a legal framework that discouraged discrimination based on gender.

Ambassador Isopi, who was represented by the EU Deputy Head of Mission to Nigeria, Zissimos Vergos, made this known in Abuja, during a two-day roundtable on women inclusion in politics, in commemoration of the International Women’s week, organized by the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria, with the theme: “Women’s underrepresentation: exploring the use of temporary special measures to elect women to parliaments.”

She stressed that there is strong evidence that as more women are elected to office, there is an increase in policymaking that emphasized quality of life, and reflected the priorities of families, women, and marginalized groups.

Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu explained that women bring immense value to nation-building, particularly as they are more thorough, unbiased, look beyond themselves, and are selfless.