In celebrating this year’s International Women’s
Day, March 8, with the UN theme – “A Promise is a Promise: Time For Action To
End Violence Against Women”, President Goodluck Jonathan has reassured Nigerian
women that having already taken very significant steps to fulfill his promise
of affirmative action to further empower Nigerian women, his administration
will continue to build on its achievements in this regard and do all within its
powers to curb violence against women.
In a press statement released by Special Adviser to
the President, Reuben Abati, President Jonathan also seized the opportunity of
the occasion to pledge the Federal Government’s full support for “COMMIT”– the
new United Nations initiative which calls on leaders worldwide to take a stand
to end violence against women and girls.
The statement read:
Click to read more after the cut...
President Jonathan fully believes that Nigerian
women can be equal partners with men in the implementation of his
administration’s Agenda for National Transformation and will therefore carry on
doing everything possible to ensure that they are politically and economically
empowered to contribute even more positively to the national development
effort.
Having already broken gender barriers by appointing
women to key positions in government including the first female Chief Justice
of the Federation and female ministers for very important ministries such as
Finance, Petroleum, Communications Technology, Education, Water Resources,
Housing, Environment, Power, Defence and the Federal Capital Territory, and
authorizing the admission of women to the Nigerian Defence Academy and their
commissioning as combatants in the Armed Forces, the President assures Nigerian
women that he is determined to take their empowerment a step forward by working
to ensure that they also get better representation in elective offices in future.
As International Women’s Day 2013 is marked,
President Jonathan also reaffirms his personal commitment to the accelerated
reduction of maternal and infant mortality in Nigeria and assures Nigerian
women that the Federal Government will continue to work for its attainment
through the Federal Ministry of Health and its agencies, as well as
international organizations such as the United Nations Commission on
Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children which he co-chairs.
The President wishes Nigerian women a very happy
International Women’s Day.
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