The world can be a peaceful and better place when all forms of gender inequality are totally abolished through women empowerment. Empowering women in all spheres of life like their men folks will create an atmosphere for better development in our societies. For instance, increasing women and girls’ education, will contribute to the higher economic growth and personal development. Research in some part of Africa has shown that, on average, women with secondary education have three fewer children than those with no education at all. Owing to these merits, as well as the imperativeness of ensuring that the rights of women are upheld, the UN has made women empowerment a pertinent part of sustainable development goals. In order to enhance women empowerment in Africa, there are few practical ways that will aid the restoration of dignity and create educational and economic opportunities for women. Abolition of Early/Child Marriages World Bank…

Globalisation in the context of women’s economic empowerment reminds me of the modern colloquial term “frenemy” where you are not so sure if someone close to you has good or bad intentions. You cannot completely avoid them and you may actually need them but at the same time, you also know you need to be careful in your interactions due to some bad experiences. Globalisation has positively shaped women’s work yet it has also arrived with its own patterns that are venomous to the women’s movement itself. What is globalization? Friedman (2005) defines globalization as the inexorable integration of markets, transportation systems, and communication systems to a degree never witnessed before – in a way that is enabling corporations, countries, and individuals to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper, and cheaper than ever before, and in a way that is enabling the world to reach into corporations, countries, and…

I was speaking to a friend of mine whose mother is a farmer, and as one discussion led to another we found ourselves talking about how a bag of fertilizer mean so much to her mother than a piece of brand new wrapper. I was stunned because I used to know that women in the villages cherished their traditional attires more than many other things you could mention, so when did that change? Then it was clear, it changed when a bag of fertilizer became more expensive than five pieces of native wrapper put together. This is outrageous seeing that about 75 percent of the world’s low-income earners reside in the rural areas, and a large number of them are dependent on agriculture as means of livelihood, so the question goes; how do they survive since one bag of fertilizer is about $30? Fertilizer is a synthetic or natural supplement…

Women cannot be empowered when stifled by pain, physical, emotion or psychological trauma. An action that impedes on women empowerment hinders the process of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is considered one of such action that impedes on women empowerment in certain areas of life. We are taking the time to consider the Psychological and physical impediments of FGM to the empowerment of SDGs in the lives of many affected women. Have we considered the Psychological effect of fear on a woman who is suffering from shock, having experienced the process of her genitals being cut off at a tender age? Such woman will constantly live in fear and curtailment because she is not bold enough to dare the unknown; this is a type of impediment to the achievements of SDGs. Women can only be empowered if and only if they are ready to…

“Without peace, no development is possible. And without development, no peace is achievable. But without women, neither peace nor development is possible.” – By Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury Fmr. Under-Secretary General of the UN The exemption of the role of women in an ongoing development process is often a risk that goes against attaining progress. There are no options or second choices to the role of women in achieving sustainable development goals even when it has to do with peacebuilding. This is because women are and would always remain agents of change. The former under-secretary-general and high representative of the Bangladeshi ambassador to the UN Anwarul Chowdhury, once said that “Without peace, no development is possible. And without development, no peace is achievable. But without women, neither peace nor development is possible.” Key findings report that when women participate in peace processes, a peace agreement is more likely to be…

By: Miracle Nwankwo

The increased report of maternal mortality in many parts of the world especially in developing countries in recent times calls for the attention to more solutions to the problem.

Maternal mortality has become unbearably high as everyday women and infants die of Pregnancy or childbirth-related complications. In as much as countries have directed their agendas to key developmental areas, it is also important to put into consideration the critical role of Women, Children and Adolescents’ Health to the global Sustainable Development Goals.