To add to this year’s priority theme for the celebration of International Women’s Day, (IWD), with the tag “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age to achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls,” Nigerian. delegates to the 67th United Nations Convention on the Status of Women, (CSW67th), session held in New York, have requested transparency in the negations of aid for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, (STEM), educational support.
The leader of the delegation and the minister of women’s affairs, Pauline Tallen, said that it is important for the agreed conclusions of the negotiations to be transparent, with sufficient attention to the fundamentals of capacity building, increased official development assistance, better STEM education, prioritization of gender funding, technical support for National efforts to provide women and girls with access to technological innovation and change are critical elements in efforts to empower women and girls.
In a statement by the director of Press, the federal ministry of women affairs, Olujimim Oyetomi, Tallen noted that given the positive impact of innovation and technological change on women and girls, it is important for development partners in Africa to prioritize and fulfill their financial and development commitments capacity in gender equality and empowerment of women and girls so that no one is left behind in development strategies and opportunities in ICT.
“My delegation requests a transparent negotiation of the Agreed Conclusions for this session, with sufficient attention to the basics of capacity building, increased official development assistance, better STEM education, gender funding priorities, technical support for national efforts to provide access to women and children -girls on innovation and technological change are critical elements in efforts to empower women and girls.
“I want to highlight that it is very important to use the transformative power of information and communication technologies for global development.
“Digital technologies have the potential to accelerate progress towards the SDGs by creating new opportunities for education, health, agriculture, and entrepreneurship, among others. However, to achieve this, appropriate policies, infrastructure, and investments are needed 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 the Fiscal Plan, Policy, and projects”, said “this means more than before that the issues of women and girls have come to the fore in our National Development Plan; including people with disabilities. This has led to significant efforts to launch joint programs in the National Budget, ICT, Education, Agriculture, Health & Nutrition, Environment, Security Architecture, Sports, Humanitarian Support, Justice System and other sectors to equip women and children- girls the skills and tools they need to participate effectively in National Development.
According to him, these efforts depend on the principle of Affirmative Action of 35% in the Revised National Gender Policy 2021 to 2026.
While congratulating the UN Bureau on the excellent organization of the 67th CSW session, Tallen expressed confidence that the outcome of the deliberations would be the same.