GOVERNMENT OF CROSS RIVER RELEASES GENDER STRATEGY PLAN IN HONOR OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

To celebrate International Women’s Day in 2023, the Cross River State government’s Women Affairs department has unveiled the Gender Strategy Plan.

Yesterday, the state’s gender strategic plan was unveiled at the ministry of women affairs in Cross River State. International Women’s Day is a day set aside by the UN on March 8 to honor women all over the world.

Dr. Alice Egbe, the ministry’s permanent secretary, spoke on behalf of Prof. Gertrude Njar, the commissioner for women’s issues, saying that the ministry had decided to launch the state’s gender strategic plan in honor of IWD in 2023 with the help of its partners.

Dr. Egbe said this year’s theme, Digital Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality, is intended to celebrate the contribution of women and girls in technology and online education. The Commissioner has been held captive by kidnappers for more than a month.

“I’m presenting my speech to you on behalf of my boss, the Commissioner for Women Affairs, with mixed emotions. She being here doesn’t make me happy.

“But, I’m glad that today is International Day of Women and Girls. We pray that God would quickly remove her in good health, she stated.

“We are launching the state gender strategy plan today,” the Permanent Secretary continued. This plan, which covers a five-year period, will guide gender programming. It is a road map for our gender-related operations.

She encouraged their partners to read the document and reassured them that the Ministry would adhere to the plan strictly, noting that it will be periodically reviewed in due course.

The Women’s Aids Collective (WACOL) provided support for the project’s launch in 2021, and the Center for Clinical Care and Clinical Research (CCCRN) took over in 2022. But, CUSO International opted to finish the initiative, according to Adekoya Peters, Chief of Party at the CCCCR.

IWD was chosen to announce the idea because the year’s topic was gender equality, according to Dr. Essien, who talked with The Guardian shortly after the unveiling ceremony.

In order to comprehend their rights and privileges, she continued, women and girls in the state needed to catch up with the rapidly changing world of innovation and technology.