“What Can Women Do Initiative”: 15 Finalists Present Proposals on How To End Corruption in Nigeria
- No fewer than 15 finalists have emerged for this year's competition on gender-inclusive leadership “What Can Women Do”
- The competition was earlier launched in July with over 50 entries across the federation
- This edition urged women to come up with a proposal that will serve as a blueprint to combat corruption in Nigeria
Nigeria’s foremost public accountability platform, the Akin Fadeyi Foundation (AFF), is set to present the results of a contest in a grand finale on Tuesday, October 11, following the competition on gender inclusive leadership, “What Can Women Do”, launched on July 19.
Legit.ng reports were contained in a statement signed by Oluwatomi Okeowo, the head of programme, Akin Fadeyi Foundation on Thursday, October 6.
Source: Facebook
According to the statement, this has been a most enlightening and exciting competition, in which over 50 entries were received as interesting policy proposals, and 15 remarkable ones qualified for the grand finale, during which those selected will make pitches on what they will do to stamp out corruption if they find themselves in positions of public responsibility and power.
Okeowo stated that the “What Women Can Do” project, as championed by the Akin Fadeyi Foundation, offers a platform for the voices and perspectives of women to come through in a unique dimension to social re-engineering and accountability.
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He said that this aligns with the GESI approach of the MacArthur Foundation – which is the sponsor of this AFF programme – in its BET-ON Nigeria project against corruption across various sectors in the country.
The foundation also noted that among those expected to participate in this online event as critical stakeholders, besides a host of civil society and social actors, including the On-Nigeria Director for the MacArthur Foundation, Dr Kole Shettima; the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, DAME Mrs Pauline Tallen; President, US-Nigeria Trade Council, Engr. Titus Olowokere and Ifeoma Malo, Nigerian Lawyer working in the International Development space on clean energy technologies and climate Change.
Others include Ramatu Umar-Bako, an Equality and Inclusion Champion and Capacity Building Adviser; Yemi Adamolekun, Executive Director of Enough is Enough, and Richard Akinnola, Executive Director of Media Law Center.
Okeowo noted:
“The struggle for gender equality and gender inclusive governance has become one of the great issues of our time, evidence of how poorly run society and its institutions have been in many parts of the world – and certainly in Nigeria – abound, no doubt as essential to a patriarchal ethos in the past several decades.
“Hence, enabling a platform for female voices and perspectives on governance and public policy to come through is not only about promoting the representation of vital demography on social issues and processes but a matter of human survival. Society is no doubt overdue for reform, and a gender-inclusive leadership outlook is vital to this.
“If the social ethos that has prevailed for so long has led to massive challenges including global and national fiscal crises, climate change, wars and the threats of war, coupled with huge accountability deficits, it is surely time for a paradigm change and re-engineering.”
He further stressed that social re-engineering is crucial to the mandate and mission of the Akin Fadeyi Foundation, which is a communication for change centre engaged in fostering citizens’ action against corruption, alongside questions of human rights and societal injustice, adding that AFF discharges its remit through an approach that emphasizes institutional collaboration and the attainment of behavioural change.
He said:
“What Women Can Do” as a flank of AFF’s programming seeks to highlight the potentials of women as very significant social actors in Nigeria, and this involves a focus on their capabilities for the design and articulation of public policy.
"The event on the 11th of October will take on their pitches on what they will do when in power towards social reformation on the levels of agriculture, education, healthcare, power generation, science and innovation, etc. It will showcase their competences and capacities as change agents."
Gender inclusion: Stakeholders brainstorm as foundation kicks off "what women can do competition"
It will be recalled that Legit.ng reported that Nigerian women have been urged to centre stage in politics.
This was made known during the flag-off of the 'What women can do' competition and media conversation on gender-inclusive governance
The initiative was organised by the Akin Fadeyi Foundation (AFF) to foster women's participation in governance.
Source: Legit.ng
