ECOWAS First Ladies Call For End To Female Genital Mutilation

The first ladies of West Africa have called for an end to the age-long tradition practice of female genital mutilation because of its negative effect on women and image for the sub-region.

 The women made the declaration in Niamey recently at the 2017 edition of the Forum of West African First Ladies’ Meeting. They discussed extensively the issues of Female Genital Mutilation, Obstetric Fistula and gender equality in the sub-region.

The meeting, hosted by the First Lady of Niger Republic, Dr Malika Issoufou, stressed the need by leaders of the sub-region to strengthen mechanisms for the suppression of gender-based violence. “ A quit notice has been given by wives of heads of state and presidents of the West African countries against female genital mutilation,’’ the women resolved.

They recalled that obstetric fistula was the consequence of early marriage and the result of long labour during child birth. The women condemned all forms of obstetric fistula and called on member states to strengthen its management and prevention.

The women condemned all forms of obstetric fistula and called on member states to strengthen its management and prevention. They also resolved to promote education to ensure the realization of girls’ and women’s rights as well as to maintain on-going dialogue with stakeholders to prevent obstetric fistula.

They urged stakeholders to take concrete steps to address the menace, check the practice of child marriage and ensure adequate legal protection against the causes of obstetric fistula.

The wife of Nigeria`s President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, was represented by the Wife of Vice-President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo. The Nigerian delegation included the Senior Special Assistant to the Wife of the President, Dr. Hajo Sani, and the wives of Nasarawa State Governor, Dr. Mairo Al-Makura, and that of Kogi, Mrs. Rashidat Bello.
Culled from News Agency of Nigeria

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

COWLSO Conference to Focus on Ingenuity of Women - Bolanle Ambode

Image
Wife of the governor of Lagos State and chairman of the Committee of the Wives of Lagos State Officials, COWLSO, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, has said that this year’s National Women’s Conference, the 17 th in the series, would focus on the ingenuity of women as innovators and solution providers. She spoke in Alausa, Ikeja, while interacting with pressmen on the forthcoming conference, slated for 24th to 26 th October, 2017, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, adding that brand new cars, among other tempting prizes, would be won at the raffle draw of the gala, on day two of the programme. She hinted that the conference with the theme ‘She Creates, She Transforms’, would be declared open by the wife of the vice-president, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo and declared closed by Governor Bindo Jibrilla of Adamawa State. According to her, ‘This year’s conference theme is expected to focus on the ingenuity of the Nigerian women, in the pursuit of innovative and practical solutions aime...
Read more

My Quest to Be ‘Cool’: Dealing With Low Self Esteem

Image
I was born in Sekondi to a nurse and a farmer. At about 5 years, we moved to Komenda, a small town in the Central Region of Ghana. Even though I was one of the best students in primary school, I always felt ‘little’ when we travelled to cities like Cape Coast, Accra and Takoradi. I felt everyone there was more beautiful, more intelligent, spoke better English and was generally better than me. I had a similar experience in secondary school, always looking down on myself and feeling I was not good enough. Oh how I wished I were an ‘Accra girl’ because I thought they were so cool! Yet, when my family finally moved to Accra, I still didn’t feel cool. On top of this I didn’t even have a boyfriend! If only I could get a boyfriend, then I will be cool like the other girls… I thought. In University, I met some really wonderful friends, some of whom were from ‘rich’ families and I thought being friends with them will make me feel cool. I didn’t. I had the opportunity to start tr...
Read more

Agony of a Child Bride!!!

Image
My Name Is Fatima Mustapha. I Am 21 Years Old. I Am From Makarfi In Kaduna State. I Would Like To Share My Divorce Diaries With You . I was married off at age 11. In my village, most of us were married by age 12 to preserve our purity. I am still not sure what that means. I never thought it would happen to me because my parents allowed me to attend school instead of hawking and I loved school alot. In my school nobody made me do extra work because I was a girl. I loved school because I loved coming first and being ahead of the boys in my class. I was in JS2 when my mother started talking about getting me married. I honestly thought she was joking until my uncle brought his friend to our house as my suitor. My suitor, Malam Faruk was a shoe seller and cobbler in Zaria. He was 42 years old and my parents felt he would make a good husband. I did not understand what they were all talking about. I really did not understand what I would do with a husband. So that’s how Malam F...
Read more