By Henry Uche
African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) has been charged to deploy every legal instrument to advance and defend the rights and well-being of women and children in the region as it should be.
The president of AWLA, Mrs. Caroline Ibharuneafe, made this call at the Association’s 2024 annual conference held in Lagos, with the theme, ‘Digital Advocacy: Leveraging Technology for Inclusion’.
Ibharuneafe encouraged women of substance across board to ensure that every other woman and child out there, regardless of their background or circumstances, have access to the rights and resources they deserve, at any given time and place.
“We have the capacity to foster digitally inclusive environment. Together we can build a more equitable future for women and children” she maintained”.
Addressing participants, the chairperson of the parley committee, Mrs. Bibian Aloba, opined that, while AWLA members strive to promote, preserve and protect the rights of women and children in Nigeria and Africa, they must not forget to interface with the Gen Z and the Alpha Generation, who are already artificial intelligence natives, and guide them aright
Aloba emphasized the need to merge human and artificial intelligence to breach generational gaps, saying, “we can collaborate to harness and explore the transformative power of technology for a more inclusive and equitable society where nobody is excluded”.
Delivering a keynote, the founder, ReadManna Empowerment Initiative, Mrs. Edna Agusto, who spoke on “Empowering Professionals to Effectively Utilize Affordable Technology to Navigate the complexities of today’s business landscape”, admonished the learned women to embrace essential ICT Skills for their Professional advancement.
“We need legal research and database navigation skill; document management and editing like Microsoft Office; email etiquette and communicating management skill, time tracking and billing software skill, information and management system.
“Others are: Artificial intelligence basics, digital signature and authentication tools like adobe sign, Acrobat PDF, social media management skill, virtual meetings and remote work tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams; adopt cybersecurity and data protection best practices, online dispute resolution and mediation platforms, among others”.
Agusto asserted that the legal professionals need the aforementioned skills and many more, to enable them work efficiently and effectively and provide better client services. “These skills help us to stay organized and manage our time very well, they help us to increased financial rewards, make informed decisions carry out sound data analysis, and stay up-to-date with industry developments and best practices.” she posited.