Lagos, Nigeria; 6 July, 2020:
Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) is scheduled to hold its Women
in Politics (WIMPOL) Webinar on Thursday, July 9, 2020.

In Nigeria, 3.8% of women were elected in the 2019 elections, the worst in Sub-Saharan Africa where the average percentage of elected women is 24%, with Rwanda leading the world at 61.25%, South Africa 46.35% and Ethiopia at 38.76%. 13 countries hold specifically reserved seats for women in parliament.

According to Inter-parliamentary union, 16 women out of 75 legislative bodies are female Speakers in both upper and lower houses of parliament in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Gambia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Ethiopia, Gabon, Lesotho, Liberia and Zimbabwe. The sub-Sahara.

Africa region is second only to Europe. A huge contrast with Asia’s 8 female heads of parliament and only 1 in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Nigerian constitution has no reference to quota or mention on gender parity unlike constitutions like Kenya where it specifically states in Article 27 (8) “that no more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies are of the same gender”. Additionally, Article 81 further reiterates that the same rule should be applied to public institutions. This shows a deliberate attempt by the law of a country to close the gender gap and
historical exclusion of women from leadership in politics.

The WIMBIZ Women in Politics Webinar aims at increasing the representation of women in public office through Influence and Advocacy, with the objective of growing female representation from 4% to 30%, in line with to the Beijing Declaration 1995 and Platform for Action.

The 2020 WIMPol webinar themed: ‘’The Nigerian Constitution & Elections: A Right to
Win’’ will explore conversations around mitigating the paucity of women in the Nigerian Political sphere, the current provisions of the Nigerian Constitution on gender diversity in the political terrain and the crucial need for increased representation of women in elective & appointive positions of power.

The Webinar will educate women in politics and women who aspire to explore the Nigerian Political sphere on the provisions of the constitution as it pertains to female participation in governance & politics.

The Webinar will educate women in politics and women who aspire to explore the Nigerian Political sphere on the provisions of the constitution as it pertains to female participation in governance & politics.

ABOUT WIMBIZ

WIMBIZ is a non-profit organization that has, over the last 17 years, implemented programs that inspire, empower and advocate for greater representation of women in leadership positions in the public and private sector. WIMBIZ has a contributory associate pool of over 750 accomplished women in management, business and public service and over 9,700 women in its database. We also collaborate with credible domestic and international global organisations to deliver programs, which have influenced more than 107,465 women since inception.