Abuja, NIGERIA — Hon Mrs Juliet Egbo, the All Progressive Party candidate for Enugu North/Enugu South Federal Constituency in the 2023 Election has said that women have made hard fought and important strides toward equality in recent decades, but they continue to face significant obstacles in all aspects of their lives including discrimination, gender-based violence, and denial of basic human rights.
Speaking in an interview in Enugu to mark the 2024 International Women’s Day, the attitude politician said women around the world participate in the political, social, and economic life of their communities and play the predominant role in providing and caring for their families.
But according to her, “despite some achievements made by individual women leaders, women around the globe are still vastly underrepresented in high level positions and policy making in national and local levels.”
She advocated that women be given more rights, responsibilities and opportunities because ” women have ability to realize their full potential is critical areas of governance and can achieve strong and lasting economic growth and political stability. But unfortunately women in developing countries are disproportionately affected by cultural stereotypes and politically disadvantaged.
According to her, “Women are responsible for 66 percent of the work done in the world, yet earn only 10 percent of the income earned in the world.
“Women account for approximately 70 percent of individuals living in poverty world-wide; Women account for 64 percent of the adults world-wide who lack basic literacy skills.
“Girls account for 57 percent of the primary school aged children in the world who do not attend school; In Sub-Saharan Africa only 17 percent of girls enroll in secondary school. Women receive less than 10 percent of all available credit in Africa, own less than 2 percent of the land in the world, and account for only 15 percent of the agricultural extension agents in the world, yet produce the majority of the food crops in the world, including 70 percent of the food crops in Africa.
“According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, women account for 50 percent of HIV or AIDS infections worldwide, and nearly 60 percent of HIV infections in Sub-Saharan Africa; 56 percent of all forced labor victims are women and girls.
“The United Nations says, 1 in 3 women in the world will be beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
“Again the International Center for Research on Women, estimated that there are more than 60,000,000 child brides in developing countries, some of whom are as young as 7 years old.
“I salute women around the world who have worked throughout history to strive to ensure that women are guaranteed equality and basic human rights.
“I appeal to the Federal, State and Local Governments to observe International Women’s Day with appropriate programs and activities,” she said
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