A women group under the aegis Reserve Seats for Women Advocacy Coalition has advocated for constitutional amendment to address underrepresentation of the Southeast women in the state and national assemblies.

The body stressed the urgent need to reserve special seats at both the state and national assemblies.

The Coordinator of the body, Dr. Adaora Onyechere Sydney-Jack, made the call in a position paper she submitted on behalf of the group to the Southeast Center B public hearing held in Owerri at the weekend.

Speaking with The Guardian, she maintained that the review should create a leeway to allow women to participate actively in communities’ growth and development.

Sydney-Jack expressed worry that the underrepresentation of Southeast women in the layers of legislature had brought gross setback in the scheme of things in the region, calling for a redressing law.

She opined: “If you take a look at the statistics of Southeast population, over 20 million, 9.8 per cent are women, 0.02 per cent of that number represents women in the National Assembly and in the state Houses of Assembly.

“We do not have a single woman in Imo State Assembly, none in Abia State, one in Ebonyi, two in Enugu, and one in Anambra States.”

In advocating for a passage of bill to that effect, assenting it to law, Sydney-Jack stressed: “With a population like that and lagging behind of our women, community development is a tragedy. So we adopt this Bill and we know that with this Bill in Southeast, the girl child may dream to live for her education to rise.

“This is not a woman bill but a national bill for women to have a voice and for young women to live for their education to rise,” she clarified.