The managing director of OhrAgric, Oguike  Emeka, has called on the Kaduna government to provide a dedicated N5 billion fund in the 2027 budget to facilitate the implementation of its Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Policy.

Mr Emeka said the policy, launched by the state government in November 2024, had yet to translate into concrete interventions due to the absence of an implementation committee, dedicated funding and effective coordination among relevant ministries.

He made the call on Wednesday in Kaduna during a capacity-strengthening engagement for media professionals and OhrAgric staff on advocacy for specific budgetary allocation to women’s economic empowerment.

The engagement was organised in partnership with Paced Initiative and Africa Media Development Foundation.

Mr Emeka said the proposed N5 billion allocation would provide the necessary financial backing to translate the policy’s objectives into practical programmes capable of improving women’s economic conditions across the state.

He expressed concern that despite the policy’s potential to address financial exclusion and improve women’s participation in economic activities, its implementation had yet to commence effectively.

“Trying to look into the WEE Policy to find out how far it has gone, we realised that nothing has been done about it.

“As we stated earlier, there has been no committee inaugurated for the implementation of the WEE Policy,” he said.

He explained that engagements with relevant government institutions showed that the absence of clearly defined programmes had hindered efforts to capture the policy in the state’s budget.

According to him, government officials indicated that policy provisions must be translated into specific programmes and activities before they could attract budgetary allocations.

“The director of planning told us that a policy statement cannot just appear in the budget; it must be tied to programmes,” he said.

Mr Emeka, however, disclosed that the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development had commenced discussions with the Kaduna State Enterprise Development Agency (KADEDA) and the Ministry of Business, Trade and Innovation to develop programmes for the policy.

He identified poor coordination among ministries responsible for agriculture, entrepreneurship and economic development as another challenge that could undermine the initiative.

He said the Ministry of Women Affairs, as the coordinating ministry, needed to establish an effective framework to ensure that funds allocated for the policy were properly accessed and utilised by the relevant implementing agencies.

The OhrAgric managing director said the ongoing 2027 budget preparation process provided an opportunity for the state government to address the implementation gaps.

“Our goal at the end of the day is to see that by the 2027 budget, this comes up as a budget, especially with the commitment that the governor has made of N5 billion.

“Let the money be given and reflected in the budget towards the full implementation of the WEE Policy,” he said.

He noted that effective implementation would help address economic and socio-cultural barriers confronting women, particularly persons with disabilities and those excluded from mainstream economic opportunities.

According to him, empowering women economically will improve household incomes, expand access to productive resources and strengthen their contributions to the state’s development.

He added that economic empowerment could also help address some of the underlying factors contributing to harmful practices such as child marriage.

Mr Emeka urged the state government to demonstrate its commitment to gender inclusion by inaugurating an implementation committee, providing dedicated funding and strengthening collaboration among ministries and agencies responsible for executing the policy.

(NAN)