Taraba:WREP trains 35 Women on utilizing data and gender disparity
By Sarah Mudwa
An organization, Women’s Right to Education Program (WREP) recently trained 35 Women on understanding and utilizing data on gender disparity in political representation in Jalingo, Taraba state
The one day training took place at the Catholic Pastoral Centre Jalingo with support from Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
The organization aims at empowering women with the right tools in utilsing data for advocacy, gender disparity in political representation, gender budget and equally tracking of budget in the state to enhance gender equality in governance and budgeting.
Speaking during the training Mr. Henry Akya WREP coordinator, emphasized the importance of gender budgeting and budgets tracking in promoting gender equity in the state, bringing women from all sectors to ascertain the importance of gender disparity in governance.
He said gender disparity is the detailed provision for a budget at the planning and designing stage, putting into consideration access to asset, believes and perception, policies institutions and law, practices and participation and power.
According to him, “If N5billion is allocated for education, how is the fund utilized to enhance gender equality? Or can a group of people can just use the money to go study abroad since it is still education but that only favours a group of people when it is meant to be distributed accordingly. For instance, how much is set aside for girl child education, people with disability education, primary, secondary education and so on”.
He further said that gender analysis promotes gender equity because it raises questions, analyzes strategy, answers critical questions and helps to close gender gap differences in the society.
In understanding gender, he said is beyond being just male or female but its a social construct, psychological, cultural and behavioral aspects of being a man, woman, or other gender identity.
