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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

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