Philanthropist Demands End to Gender-based Violence, Discrimination in Africa by 2030

By Praise Chinecherem

A Philanthropist, Mrs Obby Owkubanego has called for urgent action to curb gender-based violence, gender inequality in Africa by 20230.

Owkubanego made the call on Wednesday at the ongoing 69th session of CSW69, holding at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, USA.

She regretted that despite numerous conferences and discussions on gender and inclusion, little action has been taken to address the issue.

She emphasized that women and girls constitute half of the world’s population but still suffer abuse, stressing that gender equality remained struggle in the World, particularly in the Africa continent.

According to her, the link between gender disparity and poverty is stark and needed to be tackled headlong with the right policies and innovations.

She said, “Women’s participation in politics is limited, with various challenges hindering their full involvement Africa women also face significant barriers in entrepreneurship and education.

“As a foremost sustainable women empowerment advocate, I am calling for urgent action to bring to barest minimum issue of gender-based violence, gender inequality across the world especially in Africa.

“It is expected that the ongoing CSW69 conference will focus on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and platform for Action and outcomes of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly.

“The review will also capture as assessment of current challenges that affect the implementation of the platform for Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and it’s contribution towards the full realization of 2030 sustainable development goals.”

Owkubanego harped on the need for countries around the world to invest on girl children education and women empowerment geared towards equipping women with the right tools to succeed and become agents of positive change in the society.

The event which focused on the Status of Women globally, also had in attendence, representatives of member states, UN entities and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations from all regions of the world.