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