In Nigeria, women continue to face numerous challenges, including limited access to education, healthcare services, economic opportunities, and political representation. These obstacles not only hinder women’s personal growth and development but also impede the overall socio-economic progress of the nation.
As the world commemorates International Women’s Day, we as an organization dedicated to women’s empowerment in Nigeria, underscores the urgent need to invest in women to accelerate progress towards gender equality and inclusive development.
With the theme “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress,” this year’s International Women’s Day 2024 serves as a rallying call to governments, businesses, and communities worldwide to prioritize investment in women’s education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and leadership roles.
We #InspireInclusion everyday at Lindii Peace Foundation (LPF) and firmly believes that investing in women is not only a matter of equality but also a strategic imperative for sustainable development. By empowering women and girls with the necessary resources, skills, and opportunities, we can unlock their full potential as agents of change and catalysts for progress in our society.
We are committed to being a benchmark in terms of our contribution to society, our activities, by promoting sustainability, equal opportunities, and inclusion. We aim to continuously ensure a safe, open, and collaborative environment for our partners, staff and volunteers, where all individual feel valued and allowed to contribute effectively to the organization inline with our policy.
We are steadily advancing towards achieving a 40 to 60% representation of women in our workforce and 35% in executive leadership positions by 2025, alongside enhancing our inclusive culture and bolstering our equity framework. our efforts include initiatives such as inclusive recruitment, equal promotion policies, talent development programs, mentoring, and sponsorship aimed at empowering women throughout activities.
#InspireInclusion
We call on all stakeholders, including government agencies, private sector companies, civil society organizations, and individuals, to take concrete actions to invest in women and girls. By:
- Ensuring Equal Access to Education: Providing quality education for all girls and eliminating barriers to education, such as poverty, gender stereotypes, and cultural norms.
- Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment: Creating opportunities for women to participate fully in the economy through entrepreneurship, skills training, access to finance, and equitable employment opportunities.
- Improving Access to Healthcare: Ensuring women and girls have access to essential healthcare services, including reproductive health, maternal care, and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.
- Advancing Women’s Leadership: Promoting women’s participation and leadership in decision-making processes at all levels of society, including politics, business, and community development.
- Ending Gender-Based Violence: Taking a zero-tolerance stance against all forms of gender-based violence and implementing measures to protect and support survivors.
“The strength, resilience, and limitless potential embedded in every woman around the world, the efforts, dreams, aspirations and accomplishments has been a beautiful source of inspiration to all of us.” “The importance of investing in women and giving every woman a deserving opportunity has an impact it can have on society; such investment can never be over emphasized.”
Lydia Adams, Co-Founder LPF.
Together, let’s #InspireInclusion and reaffirm our commitment to investing in women and girls as a fundamental step towards achieving gender equality and building a more just and prosperous future for a sustainable and #Inclusivefutures.
