By Omon-Julius Onabu
Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has reiterated his administration commitment to giving priority attention to programmes and projects that would empower the girl-child and women, especially those in vulnerable and disadvantaged situations.
Okowa gave the assurance when he received the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Multi-sectoral Regional Officer, Mr. Lamine Sow, and his team at the Government House, Asaba, last Tuesday.
The girl-child and women are relevant in every society, the governor said, thanking UNESCO for considering Delta as one of the states to benefit from its women and girls development programmes, as he stated that the government would work for its success in Delta State.
The challenge of relegating women to the background has often confronted the third-world, he noted, and expressed the hope that the UNESCO initiative would go a long way in reversing the undesirable trend.
However, Okowa said numerous schemes have been initiated by his administration towards the empowerment and economic emancipation of women and the girl-child, noting that the creation of the Girl Child Development Office in the state was meant to supplement the schemes.
The governor solicited for concerted efforts aimed at giving women and the girl-child opportunity to realise their potential in the society, saying any investment in the lives of women had the tendency to affect the society positively.
Okowa said: “Let me thank you for considering Delta as one of the three states currently involved in the project implementation; it is important to us because of the huge role women and the girl-child usually play in the family.
“I am glad that out of the 36 states in the country, we are among the three participating, and what makes it more imperative for us is that you actually picked a segment of the society that is more oppressed.
“Although, here in Delta State, they (female citizens) have not been relegated, but to some extent, we have not paid attention to them and to that extent, anything that would ensure that they are better positioned in the society makes a lot of meaning to us.”
The governor also lamented that the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the economy has further put women and the girl-child in danger.
Okowa said, “With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, there is more challenge for the girl-child because as the economy gets tougher and the family gets poorer, there is the tendency that the women folk will suffer more.”
Earlier, Sow had said the UNESCO team was in the state to seek stronger commitment with the governor on the agency’s empowerment of women and girls’ programme in three pilot states including Delta.
