Gender equality: We must give more chance to women – Nigeria’s Finance Minister

As the world is moving towards bridging the gender gap, Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Ms Zainab Ahmed, on Sunday said there is a need for young girls to be given more chance with at least a minimum of secondary school level.

Speaking on the problem of gender equality and how Nigeria plan to close the gap during an interview with NEWSVERGE after briefing journalists at the Nigerian House in Washington DC.

The Finance Minister who led the Nigerian delegation to the 2019 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings said that the only way to bridge gender inequality is by giving more chance to women and girl-child with a minimum level of education.

Said Ahmed that a minimum level of education to a young girl will give them a better chance of life and give their children a better education.

Meanwhile, the joint ministerial committee of the boards of governors of the bank and the fund on the transfer of real resources to developing countries at the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington DC on Saturday, said in a communique that gender equality is a priority for the Bank Group, and that it is encouraged by the implementation of its Gender Strategy, reinforced by commitments related to IDA and the capital increase.

“Going forward, it will be critical to further deepen this implementation. We also welcome the enhanced focus given to gender equality issues by the IMF, including in its country work.” The Communique concluded.

In the same vein, Ivanka Trump, White House adviser said that developing countries that want to do business with the United States will have to do more to empower women and give them better access to the workforce, education and legal protections.

The daughter of President Donald Trump outlined initiatives to bolster the economic status of women at a panel during the IMF/World Bank annual meetings.

She appeared to tie future U.S. development aid and trading relations to improvements on these issues by developing countries.

“We in the United States think about our development assistance through the lens of achieving the goal for countries of self-reliance,” she told an audience of hundreds.

“And you cannot achieve self-reliance and the ability of a country to become a trading partner if you are not fully realizing the potential of 50 per cent of your population, and in fact have barriers against them to realizing that potential.”