Women critical to national development, says NAPTIP DG

Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) Mrs. Beatrice Jedy-Agba has advocated the continuous involvement and protection of women in national discourse as a prerequisite for national development.

She spoke at the High Level Lunch on Women, Crime Prevention, Criminal Justice and Post-2015 Development Agenda, organised by the Permanent Missions of Qatar, Italy and Thailand and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States of America.

Her words: “The place of women in any endeavour can never be over emphasized, and given their enormous contributions to socio-economic development, there can be no meaningful advancement where women are excluded.

“Therefore, criminal justice policies and institutions should ideally reflect their contributions and needs as a unique and special part of humanity.

“In line with her international and domestic obligations, Nigeria has continued to develop and implement national strategies and plans for the advancement of women in criminal justice systems and institutions at leadership, managerial and other levels. This also extends to amending legislation, policy and institutional framework as it affects the full promotion and protection of the rights of women.

“The Federal Government has approved a National Gender Policy, which acknowledges the attainment of gender equality as not only as an end in itself, but as a prerequisite for the achievement of sustainable development. In addition, there exists a National Policy for Protection and Assistance to Victims of Trafficking, which provides a broad framework for providing protection and assistance to trafficked persons.”

Mrs. Jedy-Agba added that specific priorities in gender mainstreaming for this sector would include: “increasing access to professional opportunities for women including through targeted recruitment, mentoring, retention and promotion of women, public education, training, ensuring a safe and discrimination-free work environment.”

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