By Abubakar Yunusa
Ahead of the 2023 gubernatorial election in Enugu State, young women and youths in the State have presented their charter of demands to candidates for them to work with and place functional security infrastructure and job creation as their priority.
The Charter of demand was titled, “Good Governance banners ‘and contained all pressing demands of young women and youth including; water, steady salary payments, security, quality education, access to opportunities and jobs, and protection of women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence as priority areas for the incoming government.
While presenting the charter of Demand during a press conference in Enugu, Yesterday, Project Lead, Achenyo Ochijenu, emphasized the critical role women and youth play in shaping the future of communities and the nation.
This is as she described the project as specifically listening to women to understand their voting patterns, the challenges they have with exercising their franchise as citizens, and their expectations of the next governor of the state.”
According to her, the Signpost Project, launched with support from the MacArthur Foundation through the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), began in Enugu in 2022 by engaging young women and youth at different fora, documenting their challenges, and creating the good governance banner.
Speaking further, “We went to the markets, we went to universities, we listened to civil society, we listened to youth speak about the Enugu of their dreams. We did all these to build and invest in the elections, for our young women and youth to get involved in elections but beyond that, continue to demand accountability and excellence from their leaders,” Ms. Ochijenu said.
They lamented the ASUU strike, disruptions caused by insecurity and the sit-at-home order, inflation, and the absence of pipe-borne water in the state. Several respondents said they recognized the importance of participating in civic processes via engagement with the Signpost Project and pledged the continued exercise of their franchise.
Meanwhile, TechHerNG is a community of learning, support, and collaboration for women; keen to reduce imbalances in access to technology and amplify the voices of women in society.
