As International Women’s Day is marked globally today, the need has been stressed for improved collaborations across sectors to bridge the gender gap and ensure equality and access to digital skills in Nigeria.
Omobonike Adebayo, Head of Programs, Development Communications Network (DevComs) made the call in a statement on Wednesday, to mark the day.
International Women’s Day marked on March 8 every year, is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
The day serves as a focal point in the women’s rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.
The theme for the 2023 celebration is ‘DigitAll: Innovation and technology for gender equality, and Adebayo believes to achieve it requires intentional actions from all stakeholders.
The DevComs Programs Head noted that women in Africa and especially Nigeria continue to suffer all forms of discriminations and denial of their basic rights.
This she noted, is due to lack of collaborative efforts by stakeholders to address the factors driving their continued suppression and marginalization.
“As the world celebrate the 2023 International Women’s Day, Development Communications Network (DevComs) call on civil society organizations, women movements, and other stakeholders to come together for the achievement of the key approaches proposed in several reports upon which the 2023 celebration is based.
“To achieve the2023 theme, ‘DigitAll: Innovation and technology for gender equality,’ requires intentional actions from all stakeholders.
“Women in Africa and especially Nigeria have suffered all forms of discriminations and denial such as lack of access to healthcare services, business and entrepreneurship opportunities and use of digital technology. While women represent more than half of the global population, they are still under-represented in the digital sector, especially in developing countries like Nigeria.
“With the current situation in Nigeria, it has become pertinent to acquire knowledge and digital technology skills due to the numerous benefits for individuals, businesses and organizations which transcends the promotion of equal opportunities for both gender, access to digital skills is also of economic significance,” she said.
DevCos said considering some of the significant benefits of digital skills, it enables women access to better and improved financial services and enable them make informed financial decisions.
She spoke further; “It is useful to female business owners to enable them stay ahead of competition and exploit opportunities such as in e-commerce. Likewise, women in agriculture can access more advanced agricultural techniques.
“Just as this year’s theme focuses on how technology and education in the digital age can help the empowerment of women and girls across the world, it can enhance gender-equality, open up opportunities to access education virtually while also accessing better healthcare systems and a healthy life.
“DevComs therefore calls on CSOs, NGOs and experts from the fields of technology and innovation, as well as gender equality activists to channel more efforts towards improving access to digital tools and bridging the digital skills gap among women and girls.
“This we believe, will contribute to ensuring that all people especially women and girls have equal access to digital technology and the opportunities it provides.”
