The Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Edak Iwuchukwu has expressed dissatisfaction with the low level of project implementation for women and children in Local Government Areas across the State.
Mrs. Edak Iwuchukwu expressed the displeasure while monitoring and evaluating activities in Women Development Centre, Abi, one of the three centres established last year by Japanese International Development Agency (JICA), and the National Centre for Women Development, Abuja in collaboration with the State Government and the three affected Councils in the State, as well as a step-down training for Local Government Children Parliamentarians, on the origin of child rights law, roles of children parliament, functions of principal officers, parliamentary procedures leadership and skills etiquette in Abi and Yakurr Local Government Areas.
At the Women Development Center Abi, the Commissioner and her team observed with dismay, that only the fashion designing unit is operational while the other units were yet to take off and urged the Women Development Officer to liaise effectively with the Council Chairmen, to ensure the take-off of other skills in the centre, so as to enable more women benefit from the initiative and also for the smooth operation of the children parliament in these areas.
Mrs. Iwuchukwu encouraged those learning fashion to be steadfast in their training so as to add value to their lives and that of their families.
In Yakurr Local Government Area, Mrs. Edak Iwuchukwu decried the total lack of commitment of the council for children activities and urged the women development officers to initiate a process for step-down training to enable children parliament operate effectively in order to keep pace with their colleagues in other Local Government Areas of the state.
Earlier, the Women Development Officer, Abi, Mrs. Enya, told the Commissioner and her team that there are challenges of funding, which have slowed the take-off of other skills, adding that plans are at advanced stage for commencement of other units following the deployment of instructors from adults literacy unit of the council to the centre and application for funds to step down children parliament training.
In Yakurr, the Women Development Officer, Mrs. Pauline Ibor intimated the Commissioner that no process has been put in place to step down the children parliament training.
It could be recalled that in December last year, the Ministry trained principal officers of Local Government Children Parliament and Women Development Officers and mandated them to step down the training to other members of the parliament so as to facilitate the operation of parliament in line with the outlined principles, and ginger the participation of more children at that level, in matters that affect them.
