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CHAPTER 6: GOAL 3—TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND<br />
EMPOWER WOMEN<br />
Introduction<br />
Gender equality and women's empowerment are<br />
human rights concerns that lie at the heart <strong>of</strong><br />
development and the achievement <strong>of</strong> the MDGs.<br />
Despite efforts that have been made, six out <strong>of</strong> ten<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Nigeria</strong>'s poorest people are still women and<br />
girls, less than 16 percent <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Nigeria</strong>'s<br />
parliamentarians are women; two thirds <strong>of</strong> all<br />
children shut outside the school gates are girls<br />
and, both in times <strong>of</strong> conflict and behind closed<br />
doors at home, women are still systematically<br />
subjected <strong>to</strong> violence. 7<br />
Before the United Nations World Conference on<br />
Women in 1975 and the subsequent declaration <strong>of</strong><br />
1975-1985 as the Decade for Women, most<br />
African governments were really oblivious <strong>of</strong> the<br />
regressive effect <strong>of</strong> the backwardness <strong>of</strong> women<br />
on the overall national development. Some<br />
governments even designed social and economic<br />
policies that tended <strong>to</strong> aggravate the situation. For<br />
example, the <strong>Nigeria</strong>n income tax laws supposed<br />
that female civil servants had no personal<br />
responsibilities and also presented women as<br />
being <strong>to</strong>tally dependent on their husbands, when in<br />
reality they are <strong>of</strong>ten the breadwinners. 8<br />
Women are now gradually being recognised as<br />
one <strong>of</strong> the most powerful engines <strong>of</strong> <strong>Nigeria</strong>‘s<br />
growth, yet they continue <strong>to</strong> be denied access <strong>to</strong><br />
economic resources and services, like credit, land,<br />
and markets. Their labour is <strong>of</strong>ten unrecognised<br />
7 www.undp.org/women/<br />
8 Multidisciplinary Journal Research Development Volume 8 No 2,<br />
July 2007<br />
and goes under-rewarded; and their mobility is<br />
regularly constrained. Gendered impacts on<br />
families and societies <strong>of</strong> remittances and labour<br />
mobility (including the risk <strong>of</strong> exploitation,<br />
particularly for female workers) are <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
overlooked. Advancing gender equality and<br />
empowering women is essential for sustainable<br />
economic growth and <strong>to</strong> free those caught in the<br />
vicious cycle <strong>of</strong> poverty, hunger and inequality. 9<br />
Information technology is another fac<strong>to</strong>r <strong>to</strong><br />
consider in measuring gender equality and women<br />
empowerment in <strong>Nigeria</strong>. It has been promoted as<br />
an important <strong>to</strong>ol in ensuring that marginalised<br />
groups, particularly women, are included in the<br />
development <strong>of</strong> the global information society.<br />
The importance <strong>of</strong> gender mainstreaming in<br />
9 Multidisciplinary Journal Research Development Volume 8 No 2,<br />
July 2007<br />
Page 28 <strong>of</strong> 150