DEC ADVOCATES 30% SEATS FOR WOMEN AT TRADITIONAL RULERS’ COUNCIL; LAUNCHES SOCIAL SAFETY NET FOR POOR PERSONS.
REPORTER: CHRISTIAN NWANGENE
A Non Governmental Organisation, Development Education Centre (DEC) Enugu, has advocated a legislation that will make traditional rulers in states across the southeast zone to make at least 30% of members of their cabinets women.
DEC says not just “women” but women selected from different umbrella women associations in their community, who will represent the interest of women and children in particular and the community in general while working as cabinet members in the traditional rulers’ council.
DEC believes that if women were mainstreamed into governance from the grassroots, it will bridge gender parity, and creates room for mutually inclusiveness in decision making process that will be wholesome.
The group equally canvassed that similar statutory legislation be made in the inauguration of community development associations and security outfits in different communities in the zone.
It also advocated that the political parties’ rules and the 1999 Constitution be amended to clearly state that a specific number of seats be set aside for women, starting from the ward level, local government area, state and the National Assembly.
The Executive Director, Development Education Centre (DEC) Enugu, Nigeria, Dr. Cecilia Asogwa, canvassed these views in a presentation during the 38th Annual Convention of DEC Assisted Women Self-help Groups in southeast and North Central Nigeria, held in Enugu.
The DEC boss said the forum was an opportunity to present to the stakeholders significant milestones recorded in the year 2021 ending, while also using it to present future plans for 2022.
Dr. Asogwa stated that despite the ravaging impact of COVID-19 coupled with the unofficial Monday sit-at-home in the southeast, which seriously affected the rate of their performance in communities in the zone, the NGO was able to make some significant progress in 4 strategic thematic areas.
They are governance; healthcare; access to microcredit; and skills acquisition and entrepreneurship.
While highlighting achievements on women participation in community governance structure, Dr. Asogwa explained that 15 of the 20 communities that partnered DEC on the programme of inclusive governance from 2017-2021 had fully instituted women as members of Igwe’s cabinet, town union leadership, and vigilance group.
She explained that during the period under review, 225 women of 1, 450 members of the three important decision making bodies in the 15 communities were women.
“The outcome of this exercise has brought significant development in all these communities concerned, as these women’s contribution in the traditional ruler’s council is highly appreciated by their male colleagues in the Igwe/Eze’s cabinet,” the DEC Executive Director stated.
Dr. Asogwa, maintained that the body would not relent in her commitment with the 25 new partner communities during the current project period from 2021-2024 in bringing about a more positive change in their communities for an inclusive sustainable society.
On the promotion of access to quality health care services in DEC partner communities, Dr. Asogwa, again, said that 6,000 people, including women and children, were treated of different illnesses, including, malaria, cough, highblood pressure, arthritis, sight problems, and de-worming of 4000 school children.
The DEC boss said the organisation equally introduced social safety net for the promotion of quality health care services for the poor and vulnerable in their partner communities.
She explained that the initiative which was launched in June 2021, planed to treat 300 cases referred to their specialist or secondary hospitals for minor surgery and other treatments by their mobile clinic doctors, which must not be above the funding limit of #100,000.
“I’m very pleased to inform this august forum that 20 persons have benefitted from this health scheme since it kicked off in June, 2021,” she stated.
Dr. Asogwa, further explained that DEC in the last project period ended June, 2021, carried out interventions in 6 abandoned primary health centres in some of the partner communities.
These health centres, according to Dr. Asogwa, are now functional and sustainable because of community’s involvement in oversight function led by the Community Health steering committee and DEC advisory services.
On skill acquisition and entrepreneurial programme for out of school female youths and Community based young mothers, Dr. Asogwa, said 20 out-of-school female youths and 30 young mothers in Achara, Umunochi Local Government Area of Abia State, were trained in different skills.
She added that her back-to-school-girl child had presented 50 new awards for girls that dropped out of schools.
It equally planned to train 100 college graduates, civil servants and others at a subsided rate for some categories of persons in her ICT HUB.
In the area of access to DEC-NGO microcredit programme, Dr. Asogwa, said in 2021, it gave loans to more than 1000 clients with an average of N100, 000 per client with 99% of them women resident in the rural communities.
In a speech, the Chairman, Board of Directors, Prince Emeka Odo, commended DEC for its efforts in changing the lives of women and the less privileged persons in the society.
Prince Odo, who was also the Chairman of the occasion, advised the beneficiaries of all DEC programmes and packages to use them judiciously for their good and the society.
DEC gave scholarships to the first batch of 150 drop-out of s girls-children rolled back to school from 2021-2024.
Highpoint of the event was the recognition of Ojiofogala Women Self-Help Inyi Igboeze-North Local Government Area of Enugu State for coming tops in self-help groups.