On Thursday, 9th June 2022, members of the PAWED coalition embarked on and advocacy visit to the Enugu State Economic Planning Commission.
Participating in the advocacy visit were:
- Nkem Awachie (South Saharan)
- Nebo Collins (New Century Initiative)
The participants were welcomed into the office of the Director and sat down to have a meeting with the following officials present:
- Mr. Dan Onyishi (The Director)
- Barr. Ifeoma Chukwurah (Legal Advisor)
The participants introduced themselves and the PAWED project. They explained that the advocacy visit came as a follow-up to the recently-concluded policy dialogue session on Women’s Economic Empowerment.
At the policy dialogue session, one major issue raised was the inadequate budgetary allocations for the implementation of policies and projects for women’s economic empowerment.
Hence, the participants recommended that the Economic Planning Commission:
- Work to increase the budgetary allocation for the implementation of WEE projects and policies in Enugu State.
- Ensure that WEE budget items are duly implemented, not rendered ineffective by bureaucratic bottlenecks.
- Ensure transparency in the awarding of contracts and selection of beneficiaries for WEE projects and policies.
The Director commended the coalition members on their proactive pursuit of Economic Empowerment for women.
He pointed out that the government already has a number of economic schemes and programmes, of which many of the beneficiaries are women. He however, could not immediately provide links to these programs, which indicated a need for an easily accessible online database for government economic empowerment programs and opportunities.
He also mentioned that they had taken steps to facilitate poverty alleviation and socio-economic empowerment of citizens by producing a Social Protection Policy for Enugu State. The Policy represents Enugu State’s adoption and domestication of the National Social Protection Policy, putting in mind the indigenous culture and aspirations of the people. It encompasses measures that could be adopted to enhance the social well-being of the citizens of the State, as well as implementation framework and modalities for effective monitoring.
He however admitted that more could still be done, but that would be within the purview of other Ministries responsible for the direct implementation of economic programs and schemes.
He assured the participants that the Economic Planning Commission is open and proactive, and would be happy to support the push for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Enugu state.
