A non-governmental organisation, Phenomenal African Women Foundation (PAWAfrica), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to include more women in the policy and decision-making processes of the nation.

The founder of PAWAfrica, Taiwo Adepoju, made this call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday against the backdrop of the 2019 International Women’s Day.

Mr Adepoju said this had become necessary in view of the fact that women were at the forefront of diversifying the economy across various sectors, adding that women were the pillars of any economy.

“However, women also play a pivotal role as custodians in influencing and impacting their communities, hence the need to have them properly educated and exposed to various leadership and entrepreneurial development drives.

“Whilst congratulating the recently re-elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we equally ask that this next four years of his tenure should be focused on harnessing the latent strength in the country’s greatest resources which is women, by including more women in the policy and decision-making processes of the nation.”

Mr Adepoju, who is also the Chief Spokesperson of Women in Africa, also called on African Heads of Government to declare a state of emergency on the issue of gender parity.

He said that gender parity is a necessary tool for sustainable development.

Mr Adepoju said that Africa could not truly experience the requisite growth and development it desired if leaders constantly paid lip service to the very salient issue of gender parity.

“It is evidently clear that beyond the envisioning of equality as a goal, it is now a precursor for our survival.

“On this International Women’s Day Celebration, we celebrate all women.

“We urgently ask the heads of governments in the 54 African counties to immediately declare a state of emergency on this matter of gender equality as a catalyst for engendering sustainable development and building good governance in the continent. ”

NAN reports that PAWAfrica is an NGO in Nigeria with a global reach to inspire, celebrate and empower women as a catalyst for sustainable development, good governance and entrepreneurship.

The International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8 every year and the 2019 celebration has the theme: #BalanceforBetter, which is a call to action for driving gender balance across the world.

(NAN)