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From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
In commemoration of the 2023 International Women’s Day, a former National Commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Philip Umeadi, has said that all hands must be on deck to dismantle barriers hindering the actualization of gender equity.
Umeadi, stated this at a panel discussion organized by the Rotary Club of Abuja Municipal, yesterday, with the theme: “Dismantling The Barriers To Achieve Gender Equity.”
He said the attainment of gender equity has been slow because there has been so much argument on equality rather than equity.
“Some of the barriers towards the attainment of gender equity are in the forms of cultural, legal, and stereotypes barriers. Others are pro-male vibes, motherhood penalty, think-leader-think-male vibes, benevolent bias, and lack of confidence.
“This operates under the illusion that it is the men’s world. That everything else that comes after men will not work because the men are in charge,” he said.
He, however, partly blamed the inequality the women folk have to grapple with on their lack of confidence.
One of the panelists, Joy Okoro, on her part, identified the religious barriers as another factor hindering gender equity, adding that if women were given chance to do a lot of things, the World would change for the better.
This is even as Egboga Sinachi, another panelist, stressed the need for legislation that would remove barriers to gender equity.
The President of Rotary Club Abuja Municipal, Rotn Emeka Iloegbunam, said though the barriers had been in existence for decades, he assured that everything would be done to change the narrative.
The highlight of the occasion was the donation of wheelchair, school bags, exercise books, calculators, and sanitary pads to persons-in-need.
