With a view to discover potentials in women and girls and empower them to grow, two new groups – Africa Women Summit and Girl Child Summit – have been birthed in Osun State.
The official inauguration of AWS and GCS was held on Thursday at the NUJ press centre in Osogbo, the state capital. The event themed: “Harnessing the Potential of Women and the Girl Child for Sustainable Development”, focused on empowering women in leadership, entrepreneurship, governance, and peacebuilding.
The inauguration brought together stakeholders from government, civil society, international organisations, school for the special needs and other schools as well as grassroots communities.
Speaking, AWS National President, Mrs Divine Nwachukwu Emegwuagu Francis, urged government at all levels to create opportunities for women to participate in workforce, political offices and access financial resources for nation’s building.
After inuagurating the AWS team in Osun, she charged them to move into the grassroots and discover potentials of women, support them and ensure they realize their goals in life and contribute to the transformation of the country.
Mrs Nwachukwu-Francis sought collective efforts of women, saying their cooperation and synergy would foster changes and transformation that would light the path for future generations.
The AWS National President urged women across the nation to always extend hands of support to each other to harness potential and desist from pulling themselves down.
She said, “AWS is all about helping, supporting and assisting women to grow. Bringing out a better version from anyone who encounters you. It is not a group that struggle with their husbands, but it is group that defends their family. This is group of women that does better exploits.
“I want to encourage them (Osun AWS team), it might be difficult, looking at the economy of the country, the situation all over and the level of immorality, but they should stand firm and be encouraged to forge ahead.
“Every woman has an inner strength to change situations, the same way they meet obstacles in the labour room, conquer and come out with their baby, same way I want to them to do exploits in Osun State.”
The newly inaugurated Osun State Coordinator of AWS, Ayoola Olusegun, said the emergence of the movement marked a bold step toward advancing gender equity, harnessing potentials, digital inclusion, child welfare across the nooks and crannies of Osun, Nigeria and Africa at large.
Mrs Olusegun, a lawyer, said, “AWS is about women movement for change, for empowerment, for political and economic inclusion in this state. With the huge number of women in agriculture and economic sectors, you will discover that if women are given a chance to lead, you will experience transformation in the nation’s economy.
“Because we are mothers, we have feelings and know where the shoes pinches, if we are given a chance to take leadership roles, we will do great exploits. That is AWS is here to make women to be conscious of the potentials that they have. There will be membership at the grassroots because we are going to inaugurate AWS in all the 31 local government areas in Osun State.”
Others who spoke at the event including the Executive Secretary of Osun State Health Insurance Agency, Rasaq Akindele, representative of the Commissioner for Educationn, a civil activist, Michael Ebofin, executives of Osun AWS, among others, echoed the need for women to come together, support themselves for their emancipation and development of Nigeria.
Young female students from special and non-special schools were presented with packs of sanitary pads while some distinguished organisations and individuals were presented with awards for their impacts in women development.