Group asks INEC, security agencies to support women’s rights in 2023 elections

FAVOUR ISHEMBER, Abuja

The Centre for Women Studies and Intervention (CWSI) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to take further measures to safeguard the safety of women and girls during the general 2023 general elections.

The centre’s program manager, Paschal Idogbe, told journalists in Abuja that providing adequate security will encourage women to actively participate in the election.

He pointed out that more than 70 per cent of the country’s population is under the age of 30, particularly young women and girls.

 “INEC and security agencies should provide the enabling environment for women and girls to be encouraged to participate in the forthcoming election,” Idogbe said.

“Women have the minds of a mother. They care about [the] welfare and the future. If entrusted with anything they would not fail,” he continued.

Idogbe said young women and girls within the age range of 18 to 35 are largely not represented in decision-making and governance.

According to him, they are often reduced to agents of political violence during elections while a number of other young persons show little or no interest at all in elections and their processes.

Idogbe urged INEC to address female marginalization, apathy and passiveness in Nigeria’s electoral processes.

He announced that the centre implemented the Action for better female participation in elections in Nigeria project, being supported by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD).

The CWSI communication officer, Anastacia Okolo said the centre is concerned with the protection of women’s and girls’ rights, based on the conviction that all men and women are equal and indeed, they have rights in society.

“We protect women’s and girls’ rights, we also promote equality for both genders,” she said.

Okolo noted that giving justice to women is the same as giving justice to men and that it is the only way to build a balanced society.