By Stella Oko-Esene
The National Chairperson of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) Aisha Ibrahim, on Tuesday, reaffirmed committment of the Association towards strengthening ties with Action Aid Nigeria on its programmes, especially the Women Voices and Leadership (WVL) programme, which NAWOJ was one of the partners.
Speaking during a courtesy visit to Action Aid Nigeria at its headquarters in Abuja, Hajia Ibrahim commended Action Aid for their immense support and incredible strides aimed at advancing women’s voices and leadership.
She highlighted the numerous achievements of NAWOJ through the generous support and contribution of Action Aid Nigeria in empowering Nigeria women, stating: “Through your generous contribution,we have been able to establish a functional national secretariat for our Association, this has been a pivotal step in streamlining our operations, enhancing our communication and ensuring that we can respond effectively to the needs of our members and the society at large.
“Also we were able to develop comprehensive policies that are geared towards fostering an inclusive, supportive environment especially for women, these policies are not just documents they are reflection of our commitment to equity, professionalism and excellence.”
The NAWOJ boss however urged for collective commitment to build more opportunities for impactful exchange of knowledge,share best practices in the area of capacity building, mentorship advocacy for women’s rights among others.
Speaking further, she said: “Together, we can embark on new projects that focus on mentorship, capacity building and advocacy for women’s rights,we aim to reach more women across the country.”
Responding, the Country Director of Action Aid Nigeria, Andrew Mamedu, represented by the Deputy Country Director, Hajia Suwaibu Muhammad Dankabo, congratulated NAWOJ on the successful participation and implementation of the phase one of WVL project and pledged the continuous support of the organisation in actualisation of the phase two.
Hajia Dankabo while commending the milestone achievement of NAWOJ during the project, urged the leadership of the Association to improve on the success stories as well as strengthening the institutional structure with SWOT analysis, to overcome the challenges in the next phase.
“We are in the process of commencing a new chapter of the WVL project and we are yet to unveil the next set of organisations to join, you came at the right time. Definitely, we know journalism contributes effectively in voicing out the challenges facing the country, the investigation a woman can do as a journalist goes a long way because of her experience.”