to download PDF of full document - SPARC Nigeria

national and organisational information and
communication technology (ICT) policies and
strategies cannot be overstated. While IT alone
cannot end gender inequality, it can go a long way
in catalysing social change and empowerment. IT
helps in poverty reduction and for the economic
empowerment of poor women in Nigeria. 10
Through the DRGs-MDGs fund, the Federal
Ministry of Women Affairs and Social
Development has partnered with NGOs and other
civil society organisations to conduct trainings for
sectoral programme/operational directors on
gender. Construction of VIP toilets through the
Quick-Wins constituency projects have been
found to encourage girl child enrolment (previous
M&E exercises discovered that girls refused going
to school because they had to share toilets with the
boys). CCT programmes, which engage both
women and men, have shown that women
managed fund more resourcefully than men, and
the programmes have been found to be
economically useful outside agricultural (farming)
jobs. Other projects that are girls inclusive
included the Social Safety Net, Conditional Grants
Scheme, and Youth Skills Acquisition
Programmes.
There are four indicators to this goal (ratio of girls
to boys‘ enrolment in all levels of education;
literacy rate of women to men between the ages of
15-24; share of women in wage employment in the
non-agricultural sectors; and number of seats held
by women in the national parliament), all designed
to measure the achievement of the overall MDG 3.
The OSSAP-MDGs have been doing much
towards achieving indicators 1-3 but activities
towards improving the number of seats held by
women in national parliament were not submitted
10 www.w-teconline.org
to the NMET for M&E. The activities carried out
for this indicator included advocacy for political
empowerment of women at zonal offices for
political empowerment of women for which
N70,000,000 was reportedly spent.
Findings
Education Sector-based Indicators
The achievement of MDG 3 is hinged on, amongst
other things, two indicators embedded in the
education sector. These are the increase in the
enrolment of girls in primary, secondary and
tertiary educational institutions; and the increase
in the literacy rate of young women between the
ages of 15 and 24.
Increased Enrolment in Primary, Secondary and
Tertiary Levels of Education
The gender gap favouring males has been a
challenging issue over the years. As a result, the
female gender hardly compares to the number of
males in public offices and other appointments.
Between 2005 and 2009, gross primary school
“Some parents had to withdraw their
children from other schools and bring them
here after the supply of furniture.” Mrs F. T.
Amoko, Assistant Head Mistress, St. Marks
Anglican Primary School, IboropaAkoko, Ondo
State.
“New pupils have been enrolled into our
school as a result of the new school desks
supplied by OSSAP-MDGs…”Head Master of
Idumozie Primary School, Igbodo, Ika North
East LGA
enrolment ratio was 99% for male as against 87%
for female, while net primary enrolment ratio was
64% for male as against 58% for female. Net
primary school attendance ratio between 2005 and
Page 29 of 150