Role of youths in achieving MDGs & post 2015 development agenda

Will Nigerian youths speak up for women?

Adebayo Alonge

Agenda• Introduction - Adebayo Alonge• YALI Key Learning Points• The MDGs - Progress analysis• Imperatives to empower women - Role of Nigerian youths• Initiatives• Conclusion

Introduction: Adebayo Alonge• UI-trained professional

pharmacist• MBA from Lagos

Business School• Mandela Washington

Fellow in Business at Yale• Runs a social business

distributing medicines in Lagos and Ibadan

• Strongly believes that improving healthcare in rural areas will improve rural livelihoods

Washington Fellowship Key Learning PointsFrom Yale

“Every business must have a theory of change that defines why it exists”

Washington Fellowship Key Learning PointsFrom UN

“Keep girls in school-this is the best defense against abuse for women and the kids they have”

Washington Fellowship Key Learning PointsFrom Presidential Summit

“ The single-best measure of whether a country succeeds or not is how it treats its women”

The MDGs- Progress AnalysisGoal

Promote gender equality and empower women- Glass ceilings limit increase in numbers of women in decisive roles in business and politics

TargetProgress

Achieve universal primary education -60% of 126 million illiterate youths are women -23% of poor rural girls complete primary school

Improve maternal health-Maternal mortality reduced by 45% as against 75%- Nigeria accounts for 14% of global maternal deaths

TargetProgress

Imperatives to empower women- Role of Nigerian youths

Achieve universal primary education

• Adopt a primary school

Promote gender equality and empower women

• Sponsor girls to tertiary institutions

• Write to your parliament to propose legislation supporting generous parental leave and the establishment of work-based child and elderly care facilities

• Campaign for political parties to have quotas reserved for female candidates

• Speak out in public against any female molestation you observe and advocate for stiffer penalties for rape

Improve maternal health

• Volunteer to teach secondary school students about sexual rights, reproductive health and advocate for the set up of teenage-counseling centres in primary health centres

• Write to your governor to set up maternal and childcare centres in every local government of your state

InitiativesLusoy is donating half-a-million naira to 1. Set up “ The young capital for

entrepreneurial girls initiative “ to fund businesses of rural girls aged 15-20 years

2. Donate period kits to 50 girls aged 10-15 years in two rural secondary schools

Both projects will run in Lagos and Ibadan

What will you do?

Conclusion“Africa’s future lies-with those women-run businesses, with those girls attending university, and with emerging leaders like us who are making those dreams possible. And the question today is how all of us will steer Africa’s course to embrace that future. And we all know the ripple effects we can have when we give our girls a chance to learn. We all know that girls who are educated earn higher wages. They’re more likely to stand up to discrimination and abuse. They have healthier children who are more likely to attend school themselves. It’s up to us all to create the better future we desire and use our relentless energies to get the impossible done!”