Speaking at the 2019 International Women’s Day Symposium in in Lagos on Friday, Onyema called for a focused deliberation that will further increase knowledge and awareness on innovative ways in which to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women.
“At The Exchange, International Women’s Day is an important day in our calendar. It is a day we pause to recognize women and girls’ achievements, take stock of the progress made in achieving Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and discuss how we can accelerate gender parity.
“Globally, women continue to contribute to social, economic, cultural and political achievements, and we recognise that achieving gender equality and women’s rights is a moral obligation and a development imperative,” he said.
According to him, a growing body of evidence, including academic, policy, and private sector research, shows that empowering women, realising rights, and reducing gender gaps, is associated with higher economic growth, higher productivity and return on investments, and better organizational effectiveness.
He noted that unleashing the full potential of women and girls by empowering them to be equal members of society has a multiplier effect on families, businesses, communities and nations.
“As a member of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSEI), The Exchange takes issues of gender equality and balance very seriously and it is playing its part to accelerate the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 5 which seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030.
“In 2016, I signed the NSE’s commitment to the Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs), reinforcing our support for gender equality globally,” he said.
He therefore emphasized that “all of us in this room have the power to unleash gender equality, by ensuring that humanity contributes to the consolidation of prosperity, sustainability and peace for all”.