Foundation makes case for gender equality

THE Founder of Haske Wateraid and Empowerment Foundation, Miss Azubuike Mirian, has called for total support for the girl-child to make her actualise her full potentials.

She stated this during a seminar in Lagos to mark the International Day of the Girl-Child in line with the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on the right and challenges of the girl-child.

Azubuike told The Guardian: “In this part of the world, most girls do not fulfill their dreams because of gender constraints and societal fallacies about the girl-child.”

“I have been able to break this circle, and I discovered many girls need help to do same, that is why I decided to reach out to them through this seminar,” she added.

According to Azubuike, the theme of the seminar, “The Role of the Girl-Child and Boy-Child in Ensuring a Balanced Society” was to raise awareness on gender inequality as well as advice young people that the two sexes are not competitors but partners in development.

In her keynote address, a writer and feminist, Joy Ise Bewaji, lamented that, “the toughest job in Africa is to be a girl or woman, because we teach our girls to be good wives, and ignore the boys. Society should begin to teach both gender, to bridge that gap.”

She said it is important that the awareness on gender equality continues, “because for a long time, women have been relegated to the background and this has hindered them in accessing opportunities.”