. Nigerian women lead on the global stage, across different sectors – British High Commissioner
By Kazeem Akolawole
In commemoration of International Women’s Day, UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly launched the global Women and Girls strategy which will set out how the UK will work to tackle global gender inequality at every opportunity.
This will include combatting attempts to roll back women’s rights, and work with partners from around the world to do the same.
For the first time, this strategy commits the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensuring that at least 80% of its bilateral aid programmes include a focus on gender equality by 2030.
Progress towards gender equality is increasingly under threat. Issue like climate change and humanitarian crises continue to disproportionately affect women and girls. Attempts to row back on women’s rights, increasing incidents of sexual violence in conflicts in Nigeria, Ukraine and elsewhere, and the growth of violence against women online are compounding the problem.
At the launch event in Sierra Leone on 8 March, the Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: “Advancing gender equality and challenging discrimination is obviously the right thing to do, but it also brings freedom, boosts prosperity and trade, and strengthens security – it is the fundamental building block of all healthy democracies.
Our investment to date has improved lives around the world, with more girls in school, fewer forced into early marriage and more women in top political and leadership roles.
But these hard-won gains are now under increasing threat. We’re ramping up our work to tackle the inequalities which remain, at every opportunity.”
The new strategy puts a continued focus on educating girls, empowering women and girls, championing their health and rights and ending gender-based violence – the challenges the UK believes are most acute.
It commits the FCDO to involving its entire network of High Commissions and Embassies around the world to deliver the strategy. This will include the British High Commission to Nigeria developing plans and commitments specific to Nigeria and raising the most pressing issues with the Government of Nigeria.
British High Commissioner to Nigeria Catriona Laing CB said: “Nigerian women lead on the global stage and across different sectors, however many women and girls continue to experience high levels of exclusion and marginalisation. It’s important that every girl and woman has the opportunity to reach her potential, live in freedom, and exercise her rights.
That is why the UK is investing in areas that we know are fundamental in transforming the lives of girls and women in Nigeria.
Through our programmes and advocacy, we are supporting women and girls affected by the conflict in North East Nigeria and tackling gender-based violence.
Our girls’ education programmes have already supported 1.5 million additional girls to access schooling in six states since 2012.
We have also been supporting civil society to increase political representation and participation for women in this years’ elections and to promote the inclusion of women in political.”
Alongside the strategy, the UK will also develop an ambitious new research offer to help the UK and its partners make investment decisions. In addition, the Foreign Secretary announced a new women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights programme, focused on sub-Saharan Africa, where there are some of the highest rates of child marriage and maternal mortality in the world.
Reaching up to 10.4 million women, this programme will receive up to £200 million and is expected to prevent up to 30,600 maternal deaths, 3.4 million unsafe abortions and 9.5 million unintended pregnancies.
Separately, as we recognise the critical role Nigerian Civil Society are playing to advance gender equality, protect rights and amplify the voices of women and girls at the grassroots level, the UK is also increasing support for women’s rights organisations and movements. In Nigeria, this includes a new partnership with the Equality Fund.
According to Jess Tomlin, co-CEO of the Equality Fund, “We’re really excited about this partnership because it shows that every sector can come together–with boldness and urgency to deliver resources to women’s rights organizations everywhere. A just, sustainable, thriving future depends on the solutions of feminist movements, and it’s time for all of us to trust and robustly resource their leadership at scale all across the world.”
