Int’l Women’s Day: HDI calls for technological empowerment, financial inclusion for rural women
Chibuzo Ihegboro
As the world marked International Women’s Day (IWD), the Human Development Initiatives (HDI) Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation focused on education and women empowerment has advocated for more coordinated efforts to be made to increase access to technology and financial inclusion for women in rural areas.
HDI’s Executive Director, Olufunso Owasanoye, stated this in a statement issued on Tuesday to mark the IWD and to join the call for women’s inclusion.
Speaking on the theme of 2023 IWD – ‘DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality’, Owasanoye said that this year’s IWD is a solidarity call to all private and public institutions to make rural women the minimum standard in the design and implementation of their programmes, innovations and technology.
She stressed that technology and innovations have altered how people live, hence their design and implementation must take gender equity into consideration. Otherwise, more girls will drop out of school, hunger and poverty will continue to rise, and inequality will eventually get worse.
“According to the 2021 World Bank data, women constitute almost half of Nigeria’s population at 49.5%, a good number of whom are in rural communities and in small and medium-scale enterprises spread across the country”, Owasanoye cited. “Consequently, any innovation or technology that is gender-blind has a high propensity to further exclude women who are one of the greatest assets of the nation.
“Technology and financial inclusion for poor and rural women are in the best interest of everyone as their participation would improve the economy. For instance, the impact of the current government’s cashless policy on many homes in Nigeria attests to the reality that the country needs technology and financial inclusion more now than ever, especially for rural women who are largely unbanked and solely depend on cash for their daily survival”, she added.
Owasanoye argued that creating accessible, affordable and easy-to-use innovations and technology will not only improve the quality of life of most families but also reflate the economy of the country, as women constitute a significant asset in the production value chain.
She said, “In achieving a greater and sustainable digitALL society for gender equality in Nigeria, Human Development Initiatives Foundation calls on the government at all levels to re-engineer our education system to encourage girls to venture into the field of science and technology, which is currently dominated by males; and remove all economic and socio-cultural barriers that limit girls from dreaming big.
“Given the current challenges with the implementation of the cashless policy, we call on the Federal Government, CBN, financial institutions, telecommunication companies and all other private sector players to provide adequate inclusive technology and innovations that will be accessible, affordable and usable by all, with a goal to reverse the unfolding exclusion of rural women and women in SMSEs in Nigeria.
“We, therefore, call for more sensitization and awareness in rural communities on existing hands-on digital platforms that promote financial inclusion.
“In the spirit of International Women’s Day 2023, we encourage men to celebrate and support women and girls to embrace technology and innovation to build an equitable society. As part of today’s celebration, Human Development Initiatives Foundation will be presenting a token to indigent mothers of children with disabilities for their courage and resilience.”
