The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan-Sulaiman to empower 10 million women by 2027

The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan-Sulaiman, says the Federal Government is committed to empowering 10 million women economically by 2027 as part of efforts to drive Nigeria’s economic transformation.

Speaking in Abuja to mark her 100 days in office, the Minister noted that the initiative aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision of a $1 trillion economy, with women playing a key role in national productivity.

Hajiya Imaan announced the launch of the MOWA-SARA Accelerated Skills Acquisition Programme in collaboration with WEMA Bank, aiming to train 500,000 women in vocational skills, entrepreneurship, and financial inclusion, with the first phase kicking off in Kano and 2,500 women enrolled.

“Our actions are guided by a Strategic Plan of Action, which has been meticulously developed to drive impactful interventions. To further strengthen access to finance, the Ministry is working on setting up a National Microfinance framework for women entrepreneurs.

We have already taken decisive steps toward achieving this, with the commencement of implementation of the World Bank-supported Nigeria for Women Scale-Up Project, which targets 4.5 million women across all 36 states and the FCT

According to her, “This initiative aims to bridge the financing gap for women, ensuring they have affordable credit, investment opportunities, and gender-responsive financial services to grow their businesses and contribute more effectively to national development.

“Furthermore, we have commenced nationwide stakeholder consultations for the development of a National Child Protection Framework, which will ensure a coordinated and structured approach to protecting children across the country.

“As part of our commitment to ending period poverty, we are also launching a nationwide campaign to provide menstrual hygiene kits to 10,000 young girls, ensuring they stay in school and maintain their dignity, she ministers said

The minister further stated, “Nigeria remains committed to ending violence against women and children, and I reaffirmed this during my participation at the First Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children in Bogotá, Colombia.”

The Minister concluded by emphasizing the importance of building stronger partnerships, expediting policy implementation, and enhancing resource mobilization to achieve these objectives.

Reporting by Hadiza Abdulrahman; Editing by Oluwaseyi Ajibade