IWD: Cogs in the wheel of Nigerian women’s rise

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

As Nigeria joined the rest of the in celebrating women, several challenges belouding women in the country were revealed.

Interestingly, the challenges were raised by prominent international nongovernmental organizations.

Specifically, UNICEF, said the number of adolescent girls and women aged 15-49 years who are undernourished has soared from 5.6million since 2018 to 7.3 million in 2021 in Nigeria, which is among the 12 hardest hit countries by the global food and nutrition crisis, a new global report revealed.

It said, 12 countries – including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen – represent the epicentre of a global nutrition crisis that has been increased by recent impacts of COVID-19 and exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and ongoing drought, conflict, and instability in some countries.

The report, a Global Nutrition Crisis in Adolescent Girls and Women – issued ahead of International Women’s Day – warned that the ongoing crises, aggravated by unending gender inequality, are deepening a nutrition crisis among adolescent girls and women that had already shown little improvement in the last two decades.

“This nutrition crisis is pushing millions of mothers and their children into hunger and severe malnutrition,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Without urgent action from the international community, the consequences could last for generations to come.”

According to the report – an unprecedented and comprehensive look at the state of adolescent girls’ and women’s nutrition globally – more than one billion adolescent girls and women suffer from undernutrition (including underweight and short height), deficiencies in essential micronutrients, and anaemia, with devastating consequences for their lives and wellbeing.

In Nigeria, 55 per cent of adolescent girls and women suffer from anaemia while nearly half of Nigerian women of reproductive age do not consume the recommended diet of at least 5 out of 10 food groups (grains and tubers, pulses, nuts and seeds, dairy, meat, poultry and fish, eggs, dark green leafy vegetables, other vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables, other vegetables and other fruits) according to the 2022 National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey.

Inadequate nutrition during girls’ and women’s lives can lead to weakened immunity, poor cognitive development, and an increased risk of life-threatening complications –including during pregnancy and childbirth –risking mother’s lives, also, with dangerous and irreversible consequences for their children’s survival, growth, learning, and future earning capacity.

For example, in Nigeria, 12 million children under 5 are stunted, meaning they are too short for their age due to malnutrition. Of those, about half become stunted during pregnancy and the first six months of life, the 500-day period when a child is fully dependent on maternal nutrition, according to a new analysis in the report.

“To prevent undernutrition in children, we must also address malnutrition in adolescent girls and women,” Russell added.

According to the report, South Asia and sub-Saharan African remain the epicentre of the nutrition crisis among adolescent girls and women, home to 2 in 3 adolescent girls and women suffering from underweight globally, and 3 in 5 adolescent girls and women with anaemia. Meanwhile, adolescent girls and women from the poorest households are twice as likely to suffer from underweight as those from the wealthiest households.

Global crises continue to disproportionately disrupt women’s access to nutritious food. In 2021, there were 126 million more food insecure women than men, compared to 49 million more in 2019, more than doubling the gender gap of food insecurity.

In Nigeria, the 2022 Cadre Harmonise analysis published by the government shows that 17 million Nigerians are suffering from acute food insecurity, and this is likely to increase to 25 million in lean season this year (FMARD, 2022)

Since last year, UNICEF has scaled up its efforts in the countries hardest hit by the global nutrition crisis, including in Nigeria. with an acceleration plan to prevent, detect, and treat wasting in women and children.

The report calls for governments, development and humanitarian partners and donors, civil society organizations and development actors to transform food, health and social protection systems for adolescent girls and women by:

• Prioritising adolescent girls’ and women’s access to nutritious, safe and affordable diets, and protecting adolescent girls and women from ultra-processed foods through marketing restrictions, compulsory front-of-pack labelling and taxation.

• Implementing policies and mandatory legal measures to expand large-scale food fortification of routinely consumed foods such as flour, cooking oil and salt to help reduce micronutrient deficiencies and anaemia in girls and women.

• Ensuring adolescent girls and women in low- and middle-income countries have free access to essential nutrition services, both before and during pregnancy, and while breastfeeding, including ante-natal multiple micronutrient supplements.

• Expanding access to social protection programmes for the most vulnerable adolescent girls and women, including cash transfers and vouchers to improve girls’ and women’s access to nutritious and diverse diets.

Accelerating the elimination of discriminatory gender and social norms such as child marriage and the inequitable sharing of food, household resources, income and domestic work.

“To ensure a better future for our children, we must prioritize the access of adolescent girls and women to nutritious food and essential nutrition services. The nutrition crisis is deepening among them, and urgent action is needed from all partners including the government of Nigeria and the international community. We cannot afford to overlook this crisis, and we must work together to transform food, health and social protection systems for adolescent girls and women”, said Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative.

Also, Save the Children International (SCI) Nigeria has called on all stakeholders to draw attention and interest towards the celebration of women across all spheres of life, especially the girl-child who have surmounted hurdles and societal stereotypes to reach their full potential.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) is, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”.

Save the Children in a statement issued on Wednesday said the theme is peculiar to the wave of women in technology as seen in the digital space today.

According to the UN Women, 22 per cent of women are workers in the artificial intelligence world globally. “This posits a huge gap between genders and affects gender equality in terms of access to digital technology.”

Save the Children International strongly supports the need for equity for men and women, boys and girls in schools, homes, offices, businesses, innovations and political space.

It said the opportunities available for women, particularly the girl child must be backed up with policies, strategies and structures that will ensure she excels.

Khadija Bappa Badamasi, SCI Nigeria Girl Champion from Yobe State said, “I want to live in a world where education is an instrument that is capable of correcting inequality in any society. I want to live in a world where early and forced marriage is eradicated. I want to live in a world where there is no discrimination against women and children. I want to live in a world where no child is left behind. Hence, I would like to call upon policy makers to enhance efforts to ensure that gender equality is a reality on the digital space as well.”

Etukudo, Utibe-Abasi Dominic, Girl Champion from Cross River State said, “A girl has the same rights as a boy, including for information technology, education, social treatment, and basic necessities. We will continue to advocate for our rights as human beings, not as girls! We deserve to live to our full potential and have fair and equal treatments and opportunities in life and we will make sure of this through orientation and reorientation with the safe access and proper use of information and communication technologies.”

Ramatu Umar-Bako, Senior Gender Equality, and Inclusion Adviser at Save the Children International Nigeria said, “we can only make progress in the conversation about equality when we embrace equitable concepts, take concrete steps to address diversity and ensure inclusive policies.”

Save the Children International (SCI) Nigeria called upon the government and all stakeholders to advance opportunities and ensure the needed resources to attain women’s access and safety on the digital platforms. “With this, girls will not only have equality but also enjoy equity to be outstanding. All hands must be on deck to champion innovations and excellence through digitalized education. This means advanced software for curriculums, digitalized classrooms, training and workshops, and transformative and accessible networks that compete with world standards. Women need more freedom of expression digitally without fear of trolls, cyber violence, abuse or bullying, the women should be empowered to exercise their skills in technology and digitalization with well-thought-out policies and laws that favor them, void of discrimination, biases and gender stereotype.”

Amanuel Mamo, Director of Advocacy, Campaigns, Communications and Media, Save the Children International Nigeria said “for us at Save the Children, equality means ensuring that all human beings – women, men, girls, and boys – are considered equal and are treated equally. We shall continue to pursue our dream of a world where all girls and boys are equally heard and valued. Women and girls must be able to engage, create, learn and work, safely and productively either online or offline, making the most of all the opportunities in every sphere of life and at every stage of it, in education, in the economy, in society and in politics.”

Therefore, SCI called upon governments, donors, partners, the international community, and key stakeholders to support the efforts of turning digital platforms to safe and accessible space for women, girls, and translate commitments into reality in prioritizing the empowerment of women and girls, including on the online platforms.

On his part, President Muhammadu Buhari has recognized the invaluable role women have played in advancing the progress of the country since independence.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, stated this in a statement Tuesday to mark the 2023 edition of IDA.

The President, Adesina said, saluted the hardwork and dedication of Nigerian women working tirelessly and achieving results in different fields of endeavor, from those sacrificing daily in the markets and farms to train the next generation of leaders, to those breaking limits in education, sports, medical field, arts, entertainment and even in politics, where they are still largely under-represented.

The President is proud to have worked and associated with some of Nigeria’s brightest women in his cabinet, government and the international community, the statement noted.

“He thanks the amazons who have served meritoriously as partners in the progress witnessed on the political, economic and social fronts.

“He notes that, against all obstacles, these women in leadership positions have delivered in a society still largely dominated by men.

‘President Buhari welcomes the contributions of role models and women who have demonstrated that through hardwork, dedication and honesty, greatness can be achieved.

“He pledges the commitment of government to promoting gender equality, respect for the rights of women and working conscientiously to remove all barriers that prevent Nigerian women from realising their universal rights.

“On the theme of IWD 2023, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, President Buhari believes that his administration has leveraged on the creation of a ministry dedicated to digital economy to promote the importance of digital skills, innovation and entrepreneurship for the girlchild.

“As Nigeria builds on the successes of the digital economy sector, which is the most successful in the diversification of the nation’s economy, and the Start-up Act, which creates endless opportunities to Nigerians in the technology space, the President trusts that women and girls in the country will have access to equal opportunities, live their dreams and contribute immensely to the development of the country,” the said.