By Peter Amine
The Plateau State House of Assembly has pledged its legislative support in promotion of women and gender issues.
The lawmakers made the pledge at the opening of a 3-day retreat on “Legislative Roles in the Localization, Implementation, and Oversight of the Women’s Peace and Security Agenda in Plateau.”
The Assembly Speaker, Gabriel Dewan, assured the organisers of their readiness to make laws that would enhance the activities of women in the state.
He stated that the retreat would broaden the horizons of lawmakers in understanding women’s issues.
Dewan lauded organisers and all government appointees for their respective roles in supporting the governor to achieve his mandate.
The speaker stated that no government would succeed without a cordial working relationship between the three arms of government and the support of the people.
He emphasised that as an assembly, they have resolved that the interest and the survival of the state supercede their political parties or individual interests.
The Executive Director, CLEEN Foundation, Dr Gad Shamaki, said the foundation, with support from partners, engaged women from four local governments through a project tagged “Strengthening capacity, advocacy, and local engagements of women mediation platforms.
Shamaki stated that the engagements shaped the women in fundamental aspects of peacebuilding, mediation skills, digital skills, communication, and cyber security.
The executive director said that lawmakers were better positioned to promote peace and pluralism in their roles as elected representatives of the people and can play a critical role in ensuring that rural women are properly addressed.
“Through law-making and oversight functions, you can ensure that government institutions promote peace, security, and gender equality by guaranteeing that all laws, in their intent and in their application, promote and protect human rights, inclusive governance, and accountability,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, Mr Alexander Parlong, thanked the organisers and assured them of the commitment of the ministry to improve the security and peace of women in the state.
Parlong stated that the ministry discovered some challenges faced by the women, like cultural norms, gender based violence, and expressed optimism that retreat would proffer solutions to some of the challenges.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the retreat was put together by the CLEEN Foundation in collaboration with UN Women, the Norwegian Embassy, Plateau State Gender, and Equal Opportunity Commission, among others.
The retreat was to draw attention to lawmakers’ legislative roles in promoting women’s peace in the state. NAN
