A New Nigeria that Addresses the Systemic Barriers Women and Girls Face in their Everyday Lives is POssible!
The African continent has made great progress on human capital–the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate throughout their lives, enabling them to realize their productive potential. However women and girls continue to face systemic obstacles to substantially close the gender gap.
Nigeria has been ranked 123rd out of 146 countries on the 2022 global gender gap index. Women and girls are faced with systemic barriers that prevent their access to Affordable, quality schools, and skills to prepare for the global labour market; Utilization of quality, affordable sexual and reproductive, adolescent, and maternal health services; Finance, technical assistance, productive jobs, and income support.
They are constantly blocked by discriminatory laws and stereotypes that reinforce gender inequalities in marriage, the family, and the workplace. The challenges of building pathways to sustainability and enhancing gender equality are both urgent.
Women impact economic development and natural resource management through their various roles in households, the economy, and society. And it is possible to create a society where they benefit as much as they contribute.
Unleashing the human capital of women and girls would help set Nigeria on the path to economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen its social and economic prospects.