In furtherance of this year’s priority theme for the United Nations celebration of International Women’s Day, (IWD), tagged “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls,” the Nigerian delegation to the UN 67th Convention on the Status of Women, (CSW67th), session underway in New York, has asked for transparency in aids negations for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, (STEM), education support.
Leader of the delegation and minister of women affairs, Pauline Tallen, said that it is important for the agreed conclusions on the negotiations to be transparent, with adequate attention placed on fundamentals of capacity building, increased official development assistance, improved STEM education, prioritization of gender financing, technical support to national efforts at providing access to women and girls on innovation and technological change as critical elements in the efforts towards empowering women and girls.
In a statement by the director of Press, federal ministry of women affairs, Olujimim Oyetomi, Tallen noted that given the positive impacts of innovations and technological change on women and girls, it is important for development partners in Africa to prioritize and fulfil their financial and capacity building commitments in gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls so that no one is left behind in development strategies and opportunities in ICT.
“My delegation calls for transparent negotiations of the Agreed Conclusions for this session, with adequate attention placed on fundamentals of capacity building, increased official development assistance, improved STEM education, prioritization of gender financing, technical support to national efforts at providing access to women and girls on innovation and technological change as critical elements in the efforts towards empowering women and girls.
“I would like to highlight that it is crucial to harness the transformative power of information and communications technology for development globally.
“Digital technologies have the potential to accelerate progress towards the SDGs by enabling the creation of new opportunities for education, health, agriculture, and entrepreneurship, among others. However, to achieve this, there is a need for appropriate policies, infrastructure, and investments to ensure that technology is accessible and affordable for all. Nigerian women stand in solidarity with the United Nations to call for peace in Nigeria and the world at large,” she said
The minister who explained that “for the first time, the Nigerian government has adopted a gender-perspective budget approach in its Fiscal Plans, Policies, and projects”, said “this means that more than ever before women and girls issues have come to the fore in our National Development Plans; including that of those living with disabilities. This has led to significant efforts in the roll-out of joint programmes in National Budgets, ICT, Education, Agriculture, Health & Nutrition, Environment, Security Architecture, Sports, Humanitarian support, Justice System and other sectors to equip women and girls with the necessary skills and tools to effectively participate in National Development.”
According to her, these efforts are hinged on the 35% Affirmative Action principle in the Revised National Gender Policy 2021 to 2026
While congratulating the UN Bureau on the excellent organization of the affairs of the 67th session of the CSW, Tallen expressed confidence that the outcome of the deliberations will equally be fruitful.
