Carter Center acknowledges Sanwo-Olu’s gender inclusiveness, endorses Lagos City for “transform women campaign
“By Moses Adeniyi
Lagos State has gotten endorsement among the 12 cities of the world selected by The Carter Center for the implementation of the “Inform Women, Transform Lives Campaign”, to drive capacity development among women for broad socioeconomic development across the globe.
In a press briefing, Thursday evening, held at Ikeja, the State Capital, to intimate on the selection of Lagos City and the lauch drive towards the implementation of the “Inform Women, Transform Lives” Campaign in the city, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the driving force behind the State’s success at the competition was made possible through contributions by the Ministries of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Information and Strategy Youths and Social Development, Commerce, Cooperative, Trade and Investment as well as S.A to the Governor on Legal Matters.
According to him, the contributing Ministries, Departments and Agencies would play critical role in the implementation process.
Sanwo-Olu said the City of Lagos “Inform Women, Transform Lives Campaign” is basically to ensure that women can seek and receive information from all tiers of Governments irrespective of their status, tribe and religion for capacity development.
According to him, such capacity development drive would enhance macro development for the State, the Nation and the Globe.
“Two months ago, Lagos State participated in the Carter Centre competition with other 300 Cities across the globe and was among the few that got selected for the “Inform Women, Transform Lives” programme. The driving force behind our success at the competition was made possible through contributions by the Ministries of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Information and Strategy Youths and Social Development, Commerce, Cooperative, Trade and Investment as well as S.A to the Governor on Legal Matters.
“The City of Lagos ‘Inform Women, Transform Lives Campaign’ is basically to ensure that women can seek and receive information from all tiers of Governments irrespective of their status, tribe and religion. Our Campaign theme in the City of Lagos is “Gender Equality and Inclusivity” and we will raise awareness on where and how women can easily get information about city services that would benefit them,” Sanwo-Olu who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Barr. Bimbola Salu-hundeyin said.
He called on critical stakeholders to create the needed awareness on the campaign “in order to fully make the difference in the lives of our pwomen in Lagos State achieve the objective of the Carter Centre in Lagos State.”
Speaking, Salu-hundeyin explained that the intention of the Governor Sanwo-Olu upgrade of the policy thrust of his first administration’s development agenda from THEMES to THEMES PLUS is to represent social inclusion, gender equality and youth engagement.
She disclosed that according to the Carter Center, Lagos was chosen among the finalists of the selected cities which applied based on commitment to transparency and gender equality.
Other cities participating in the campaign in addition to Lagos include Atlanta, Georgia; Amman, Jordan; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cape Town, South Africa; Chicago, Illinois; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Dhaka North, Bangladesh; Dublin, Ireland and Guatemala City among others. They also launched their campaigns simultaneously in line with Carter Centre’s directive.
The Carter Center is a non-governmental organization helping to improve the life of people in more than 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy and human rights; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care.
The Carter Centre was founded in 1982 by Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and his wife, Mrs. Rosalyn Carter.
The Foundation is committed to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering.
The State Commissioner for Industries, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Kaosarat Folashade Ambrose said it is pertinent to empower women, stating it is strategic for macro development of the nation.
“Essentially, it is really about ensuring that this campaign must hold to raise awareness about women’s right to information. For us particularly, women in the developing world, we have to address those key challenges we often face, such as lack of access to information about our rights.
“We understand the potentials of a woman and when a woman is empowered, we do not only elevate ourselves but also our family, community and nation, and that is why it is central to our development strategy,” she said.
