Coordinating Minister of Health
and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate has called for the adoption of
inter-ministerial and multidisciplinary approach to tackle gender barriers in
Nigeria.
Pate made this call when the
Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Barr. Uju Kennedy Ohanenye,
paid him a visit to advocate on issues affecting gender (women and children) on
multi-sectoral and development for nation building.
He said the issue of women and children
are very important issues close to the heart of the President, and as part of
his Renewed Hope Agenda, the welfare of the people is at the center. “When you
talk about the welfare of the Nigerian people the women of Nigeria are a key
pillar with children being the future of the country. So there is, need to
collaborate and build synergies with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Education
and others, to promote their wellbeing and welfare which would boost the
nation's development.”
He added that the
life course perspective to welfare issues begins from the adolescent who needs
to be educated, empowered, protected and nourished to be a good mother. “They
go on to be responsible youths, healthy, strong and transit into gainful
employment, be productive members of society as they grow further, even when
they are elderly to ensure that they have aged well. The issue of growing through
as a human being is one of a whole life course and that is the approach that we
are taking as the Health Ministry. You as the Ministry in charge of Women Affairs,
have over 50% of that demography because half of Nigeria population are women,
so these are the important intersections in this administration that we are
discussing the Minister stated.”
Addressing some
of the concern raised by the Minister for Women Affairs and Social Development,
Pate revealed that his Ministry was in line with zero tolerance of the maltreatment
of children. “The Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity in particular, I
think will be a very key ally and we should draw them into the conversation so
that the enforcement of the child labour law is optimized.”
He said
available developmental resources, meant for the development of the
nation have to be judiciously used for the said purpose. “In the application of
development resources, whether domestic financing or external financing, we are
in complete agreement. All resources to this country whether there are tax
revenue, grant resources or development finance loans from multilateral
institutions or banks must be used effectively, efficiently and get to the
intended beneficiaries.”
“With regards to the
particular project that you mentioned, I would suggest that the officers in
your ministry responsible for those loans with the relevant director that we
will assign sit to review the loans and the implementation of the agreement
that had been made.
Maybe then engage the World
Bank before we proceed with the implementation of those loans. I think
that’s the way to see how we can address this issue, if there is need to
restructure”
Earlier,
the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Barr. Uju Kennedy Ohanenye,
spoke on the need to review, the Child Labour Law, to employ strategies for
enforcing laws against employing housemaids or boys under 18 years old. The
coordination of donations to NGOs to establish a system for coordinating and
declaring all donations to NGOs in Nigeria. Transparency in child adoption procedures, proposing
mandatory publication of baby or individual photos before adoption to prevent
theft or trafficking.
Barr.
Ohanenye, went further to advocate for funds for whistleblowers to encourage
reporting of corruption and illegal activities. The transparent utilization of
donor funds to ensure that they are properly utilized for intended purposes
while prohibiting the allocation of funds for advocacies, meetings, rents and consultancies
that do not directly benefit the poor and the establishment of enforcement
mechanism, like a mini taskforce comprising of auditors and volunteers to
enforce regulations. She emphasized the
importance of collective action and collaboration within various Ministry’s in
implementing these measures to improve governance, transparency and social
welfare in Nigeria.
Patricia
Deworitshe
Director
(Information)
15/02/2024.
