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D’BANJ, OMAWUMI, GENEVIEVE, ONYEKA ONWENU AND OTHERS JOIN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT CAMPAIGN

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Onyeka Onwenu,
Omotola, Genevieve, Omawumi and D’banj are some of the celebrities that have
joined the ONE Campaign and Nigerian civil society organizations in a call for
world leaders to take urgent action for women’s empowerment ahead of the
establishment of the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.

As part of the
African Union Year of Women Empowerment, the ONE Campaign on Thursday April
16th, 2015 in Abuja launched Poverty is Sexist, a campaign and online petition
calling on world leaders to put girls and women centre-stage in 2015, a year
when new development goals will be set. 
High profile Nigerians, including Executive Director of the National
Centre for Women Development, Lady Onyeka Onwenu, actresses Omotola
Jalade-Ekeinde, and Genevieve Nnaji, musicians Omawumi and D’banj, have added
their names to ONE’s call for action.

The campaign was
launched at a policy forum that was attended by representatives of the National
Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS), Equity Advocates and Save the Children
Nigeria among others.
A recently released
report by ONE titled, “Poverty is Sexist: Why Girls and Women Must Be At The
Heart of The Fight to End Extreme Poverty” shows how unlocking women’s economic
potential could improve the lives of everyone in society.  The report shows that poverty and gender
inequality go hand in hand, whether you look at health, education or work. Not
only are girls and women worse off than those in wealthier countries, but the
gender gap in these areas between males and females is greatest in the poorest
countries. This double disadvantage means that: a woman in Sierra Leone is 183
times more likely to die in childbirth than a woman in Switzerland, working
women in the least developed countries are three times more likely to be in
vulnerable employment than women elsewhere and in the poorest countries, literacy
levels are a third lower for women than men.
New Sustainable
Development Goals, due to be unveiled at the United Nations in September, will
set out a plan to end extreme poverty by 2030. But that ambition will only be
realised if efforts are directed where the need is greatest, in both the
poorest countries and to boost the prospects of girls and women, who are
disproportionately affected.
During the event,
Lady Onyeka Onwenu joined Arunma Oteh to sign the online petition, which is
online at www.one.org/sexist. Onwenu recognized that progress is being made in
women empowerment, but there is a lot left to be done. She said:
Other Issues raised
at the policy forum include the need for a comprehensive national policy on
political inclusion for women, the need for monitoring mechanisms for funds
targeting women development, and increased collaboration and synergy among
women’s empowerment groups and champions.
A policy document
will be compiled from  the forum, which
will contribute to a continental narrative being developed by the ONE campaign
to lobby leaders for action, in the lead up to the AU Heads of State Summit in
June and the UN Summit in September.
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