FRANCIS KADIRI, ABUJA
THE Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has restated the Ministry’s commitment to putting an end to gender-based violence, working with the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
She lamented that the COVID-19 pandemic had heightened the gravity of violence and sexual abuse against women and girls, noting that a recent European Union report showed that 30 per cent of women, aged 15 to 49, had experienced sexual abuse at one time or the other.
The minister spoke at the National Accountability Town Hall Meeting to commemorate the 2020 16 Days of Activism to end Violence against Women and Girls with the theme, “Orange the world, fund, response, prevent and collect.”
According to her, another report commissioned by the Ministry of Women affairs and the United Nations Population Commission in support of the Norwegian government also showed that 28 per cent of Nigerian women, between the ages of 25 and 29, had experienced some form of violence at one time or the other.
A statement signed by the Director of Information and Public Relations in the ministry, Hassan Dodo, quoted the minister as saying that in response to the rising cases of violence against women, President Buhari had inaugurated an Inter-ministerial committee on the eradication of sexual and gender-based violence against women.
State governors had unanimously declared a state of emergency on this, she added.
The Minister further stated that her ministry would also organise a high level stakeholders dialogue to undertake stakeholders’ response to stimulus packages, programmes, interventions and polices that were gender sensitive, as well as how the Ministry of Finance could use public Finance Management to strengthen and empower women.
She called on women leaders to join in the fight against sexual violence and abuse against women and girls, saying, “Our voices count and we must take action.”
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Pauline Tallen, in her keynote address, commended the finance minister for her strong commitment to supporting her Ministry’s determination to halt gender-based violence against women and girls.
She further disclosed that her Ministry was working with the National Bureau of Statistics to ensure aggregation of data and its impact on women.
