By Olumide David
The First Bank of Nigeria Limited has said it is committed to women empowerment and the promotion of socio-economic inclusion of women in society.
The bank said in a statement that it is dedicating the month of March to the celebration of women across the world, as it commemorates the globally celebrated International Women’s Day in March.
The bank said it would organise the first women network, mentoring, coaching and sponsorship pillar webinar, an initiative to address the gender gap and increase the participation of women at all levels within the organisation.
It added that it would join the rest of the world to celebrate the 2023 International Women’s Day themed, ‘Embrace Equity.’
The bank said, “As a member of UN Women, FirstBank employs the relevant women empowerment tools including the Women Empowerment Principles Gender Gap Analysis Tool in the process of assessing its performance and provides progress reports that feeds into the WEPs performance indicators.
“FirstBank has a ratio of about 39 per cent: 61 per cent female to men employees while 32 per cent women in management driving a deliberate policy consistent with the WEPs – equal opportunity, inclusion, and nondiscrimination.
“In line with this commitment, FirstBank is partnering with UN Women on 15 March 2023 and is set to play a key role in a scheduled event driven by UN Women that will showcase young women and men between the ages of 18-35 in Nigeria who are using technological innovations and tools to promote gender equality, women’s empowerment and inclusion. This is in line with the UN International Women’s Day theme for 2023 is ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’.”
Speaking ahead of the events, the Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank, Folake Ani-Mumuney, said, “We remain committed to diversity and inclusion as well as women empowerment through digital education and the provision of opportunities for women to access digital tools to bridge the gender digital divide and achieve gender equality.
“Therefore, as in previous years, FirstBank has dedicated March 2023 as a month set aside to celebrate women and all their remarkable achievements over the years which include their leadership roles and pace-setting standards in Science Technology Entrepreneurship, Arts and Mathematics.
“We are deliberate about partnering to ensure more impact – ensuring that we touch as many women as possible in women’s month and beyond.”