IWD 2024: Tabitha Empowerment Center extols Nigerian women, calls for more investment in women

Tabitha Empowerment Center (TEC), a leading humanitarian group for the rehabilitation and empowerment of widows and victims of domestic violence, has hailed the ingenuity of Nigerian women as the global community celebrates the 2024 International Women’s Day.

The organization in a statement to mark the International Women’s Day, noted that improved investment in women is essential to the achievement of equality, sustainable development, peace, and democracy.

Officially observed since 1975, the IWD is commemorated annually to raise awareness about women’s oppression and inequality and function, as a call to action for women to actively campaign for change. The IWD theme this year aligns with the priority theme for the UN’s 68th Commission on the Status of Women and examines pathways to greater economic inclusion for women and girls everywhere.

In line with this, the Founder and Executive Director of Tabitha Empowerment Centre, Mrs. Christina Uzo-Okamgba (AFP, FIL) reiterated the organisation’s commitment to empowering widows and survivors of gender-based violence in rural communities.

She said the International Women’s Day celebration underscores the ongoing struggle for gender equality and the need for awareness about the challenges women face worldwide, adding that the theme of this year’s IWD, “Inspire Inclusion,” resonates with the objectives of the Tabitha Empowerment Centre, which is to provide support and knowledge needed by women exposed to domestic violence and make them better contributors in the society.

“The International Women’s Day is an annual event, and it’s a global celebration of women’s achievements, progress, and contributions to society. It is a day to acknowledge the ongoing struggle for gender equality and to raise awareness about the challenges women face worldwide.

“For many, it’s time to reflect on the progress that has been made in advancing women’s rights and empowerment, while also recognising the work that still needs to be done to achieve full gender equality in areas such as education, health care, and representation in leadership roles,” she stated.

Also speaking, the Programs Coordinator and in-house lawyer at Tabitha Empowerment Centre, Barr. Gladys Emmanuel noted that the Center will be carrying out an intervention programme in Angwan Gede community in Jikwoyi, FCT as part of its activities to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day.

According to her, these kinds of initiatives are essential to eradicating discrimination and gender biases against women, and also reflect TEC’s commitment to fostering an environment that encourages women to thrive.

“At Tabitha Empowerment Centre, we understand the importance of the advancement of the rights of women, the protection of these rights, and also fostering an environment that encourages women to thrive.

“Based on this, we are seeking to have this particular intervention at Angwan Gede community in the FCT. It is one of the communities that Tabitha Empowerment Center supports and because of the dynamics of this particular community, this is the reason why we have chosen it for this year’s IWD celebration.

“Some of the activities that we will be carrying out include a guest speaker session and a session for interaction with women and men in the community. We will also be undertaking sensitization, where we’ll be providing them with as much information as possible on how they can create an environment that allows men and women to thrive evenly and also foster gender equality.

Barr. Emmanuel expressed optimism that such awareness-raising activities will play an important role in preventing violence against women and girls in such communities.

“It is our belief that after this particular programme, and of course, with the presence of the anti gender-based violence community champions already available in that community, it would also help us to get more people to commit towards this cause. So, besides just providing them with information, we are also looking at getting members of the community to become either volunteers or community champions or people who would confront issues of harmful gender stereotypes and seek to end any form of discrimination or activities that tend to belittle or subjugate women in that particular community,” she said.