International Women’s Day and the Risks of Womanhood in Nigeria

On March 8, 2024, the world commemorated yet another International Women’s Day (IWD), with the official United Nations (UN) theme for the 2024 International Women’s Day being: “Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress”. Officially adopted by the UN in 1975 following a series of protest movements and advocacies, which began in 1908 to pursue emancipation from economic exploitation and political exclusion, the IWD symbolises global recognition of the risks of womanhood and efforts to de-risk womanhood. But what has changed after close to five decades of adopting IWD and its annual commemoration globally? For the woman in Nigeria, being a woman remains scary due to risks of political and economic exclusion, cultural stereotyping, weaponisation of women as instruments of war, and poor recognition of the intersectionality of womanhood in policies and programming, to mention a few.

Against the backdrop of IWD commemoration, this edition of the Nextier SPD Policy Weekly provides sober reflection and stock-taking on the risks of womanhood in Nigeria and suggests strategies for de-risking womanhood through legislation, policies and programmes that enhance women’s political inclusion, economic emancipation and reflect the intersections of women’s age, disability, culture, religion and socio-economic status.

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