United Nations Women group has announced its commitment to ensuring that at least 50,000 young women in North Central Nigeria secure decent jobs in traditionally male-dominated fields such as water resource management, procurement, agribusiness, maritime, and mining by the year 2027.

This initiative was part of the consensus reached at the conclusion of a three-day Zonal Coordination Mechanism meeting for the six North Central states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), held in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State.

Over the years, UN Women has been instrumental in fostering a unified approach to addressing gender disparities, promoting women’s participation in decision-making processes, and amplifying women’s voices across all sectors of society.

Through these efforts, UN Women seeks to advance gender equality and empower women, contributing to sustainable development and social justice on a global scale.

Other goals outlined in the communiqué from UN Women for 2027 include the development of a robust action plan aimed at advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) in Nigeria, with eight complementary expected outcomes, which the organization is collaborating with various partners to achieve. The expected outcomes are as follows:

• Implementation of Gender Action Plans: All 36 states will develop and implement costed action plans for the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, the Child Rights Act (CRA), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and UN Resolution 1325 to advance GEWE.
• Female Representation: Ten of the 36 states should achieve a 35% representation of women in decision-making positions in accordance with the national gender policy.
• Men’s Advocacy Networks: Establishment of 36 men’s networks to advocate for and train men and boys on positive masculinities to promote GEWE at the state level.
• Women’s Organizations Support: Strengthening the capacities of 1,000 women’s organizations and enterprises across the six geopolitical zones to conduct evidence-based advocacy to influence national and state governments on GEWE, impacting at least 6 million people.
• Increased Funding for GEWE: A 20% increase in funding for gender equality and women’s empowerment at both state and federal levels.
• Enhanced Access for Rural Women: 100,000 rural and market women will gain improved access to resources, information, services, and technologies to foster wealth creation, including in the digital economy.
• GEWE Coordination: Implementation of robust GEWE coordination mechanisms across all 36 states.

Additionally, UN Women is advocating for a minimum budget allocation of 15% for women’s programs in the North Central states to facilitate gender equality and effective women’s empowerment in the region.

The communiqué also emphasized the participants’ agreement to establish targeted advocacy campaigns aimed at engaging key stakeholders, including government officials, political parties, religious leaders, and community leaders on the importance of budget allocations for women’s programs.

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They called for the implementation of training programs to enhance the skills of state representatives and ministries in gender-responsive budgeting and planning.

To achieve the goals set forth in the meeting, the communiqué outlined the need for a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework to track progress and impact, ensuring that data-driven decisions guide future initiatives. It also stressed the importance of fostering collaboration among states to share best practices and enhance the overall effectiveness of gender coordination efforts.

Participants unanimously commended UN Women for organizing the coordination meeting, as well as the training and open-day activities that brought together a diverse group of key stakeholders in the region.