Goodluck Jonathan foundation callsl for special seats for women in ECOWAS region

The Executive Director of Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Ms Ann Iyonu has called on the West Africa region to prioritise women and youth participation in governance as a way of balancing the alarming percentage of this category of persons in the sub region.

Ms Iyonu made the call during the ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association townhall meeting that is currently ongoing in Abuja, Nigeria as more than 350 women and youths were drawn across the subregion to participate and network as a way of rejuvenating democracy by giving voice to Women and Youth on the theme: “Stimulating a regional Dynamics for Mentoring the Next Generation of Decision Makers.”

Ann Iyonu empathized that democracy cannot thrive and function well if it is not inclusive stating that Women and Youth are major components of the society who should play critical roles in leadership and governance.

She said that the townhall meeting is aimed at giving voice to women and youth which is timely but expressed disappointment over the low percentage of women elected in the next Assembly of Nigeria.

She noted “women and youth representatives, especially in the West African Parliaments of the West Africa region are very low compared to other regions in Africa where the gap has increasingly and progressively narrowed.

“Only 15.7 percent of the average proportion of seats held by women in the national Parliaments which means the region is lacking behind other Parliaments in Africa like East Africa with 30.8 percent, Central Africa 21.7 percent, North Africa with 20.3 percent.”

She therefore called for conscious and deliberate effort in changing the status quo of women and youth through Education programs that will boost the knowledge and skills of women and youth through civic engagements, politics, leadership and public speaking through mentorship and networking opportunities. She noted that special seats should be dedicated to women and youth to increase the numbers, “this might not be something we like to hear, out various governments will not like to hear it but one of the measures which we can use to increase the participation of women is to dedicate special seats to increase representation of women and youths in Political positions especially in parliament to inspire and encourage more women and young people in politics,” she said.

She ended up stating that the adoption of technologies in politics will attract women and youths to participate in politics which will change the narrative.

In her welcome remarks, the President of the ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association (ECOFEPA) Hon. Worayr Sarr said that the activity is strategically tied to the ECOWAS vision 2050 shared value and a desire to have a common future

She stressed that maintaining the objective can be realised if women are given more importance. She said that with over 350 women and youth gathered across the subregion, they are hoping to increase the number 10,000 by 2030 While speaking on the increase of women participation in politics, The long serving Sierra Leanean Parliamentarian further recommended that various Government and MPs in the region should proactively and progressively implement the 30% quota in their respective parliaments and delegations.

The Regional Chairman of the West Africa Youth Assembly, Emmanuel Chea urged for the establishment of the ECOWAS Youth Parliament, incorporation of West Africa Youth Assembly as part of ECOWAS Parliament and ECOWAS Commission election monitoring team and the establishment of the ECOWAS Youth envoy. Ending his address, he lauded the Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament Hon. Sidie Mohamed Tunis for being a man of the youth and women.

Giving her own Goodwill message, the Country Representative of United Nations (UN) Women, Beatrice Eyong thanked the Speaker for giving a budget for the activities of ECOFEPA. Like Ann Iyonu, Beatrice also emphasized the point of low representation of women in politics stating the domination of the political space by one gender cannot continue to be encouraged especially with the increased number of women and youth in the region.

While reading out the keynote address on behalf of Senator Oriji Uzo Kalu, the Former Governor of Abia State and current Chief Whip of Senate, Emeka Nowala pointed out the difference between mentorship and godfathership; the latter which he says is dangerous and does not create an enabling environment for growth and development compared to the former which helps impact positively on the mentee. He urged that there should be more mentorship program, lauding the initiative by the ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association.

In his opening remarks, Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament Hon. Sidie Mohamed Tunis said the ECOWAS Parliament terms women and youth empowerment as a major key in ensuring smooth democracy in the subregion. He said that the meeting provided an opportunity for constituents to have face to face interaction with their representatives which is the first time since the formation to bring over three hundred and fifth women and youth under one hall for the purpose of sharing experiences and ideas that are geared towards complementing regional integration, women and youth development and progress in West Africa.

“Permit me to also use this opportunity to acknowledge and commend the very important steps being taken by ECOWAS Member States to address Gender issues. Of particular note is the demonstration of commitment and political will exhibited by President Julius Maada Bio of the Republic of Sierra Leone, who recently signed into law the landmark Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Bill 2022, guaranteeing the principles of inclusion, representation, participation, and a more
responsive posture on gender. We are hopeful that similar action will be replicated in all our Member States.

“My sincere anticipation is that the days that have been allocated to this event would no doubt open a vista of hope for democracy in our region. I am optimistic that the lessons learned at the end of this townhall meeting, would transcend our region. With our ambitious and vibrant young population, we have good reasons to look up to the future.”

Dr. Tunis also noted that the allocation of a budget line to the ECOFEPA in the ECOWAS Parliament annual budget has facilitated the empowerment of women and strengthened the fight against Gender-Based discrimination.