The United Nations (UN) Women in partnership with Zamani Foundation, Master Card and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on Thursday launched the ‘one woman, one ID card’ project, which is aimed at increasing the level of financial inclusion among women in Nigeria.
At the launch of the pilot project in Kaduna, UN Women Representative, Ms Adjaratou Ndiaye described the campaign as a critical phase to help women who sometimes are among the most vulnerable when it comes to enjoying their rights, having their citizenship formally recognized and claiming their rights in a variety of domain.
According to her, the possession of a National ID card is a fundamental stage to women’s participation in political governance, access to financial resources, their protection as a full citizen of a Nation and a sub region to guarantee their well-being and safe mobility.
The strategy, according to her, directly addresses four initiatives including: development of diverse financial products, enhancement of payment processes, development of credit system as well as encourage a savings culture mentality.
She further explained that a targeted number of registered women will benefit from a training to strengthen their capacity in entrepreneurship and basic financial management to ensure effective use of the financial application inserted in the card as well as the longevity and competitiveness of their enterprises.
The increasing levels of financial inclusion in Nigeria she noted is expected to empower 70 percent of those living under the poverty line, majority of which are women facing added gendered challenges of lower representation in decision making positions, informal employment and lower incomes, lower education levels and limited access to information and constraints on mobility.
Earlier in her remark, the International Coordinator of Zamani Foundation, Amina Zamani noted that the scheme is targeted at empowering 5,000 women in the state to reduce the poverty level among women.
She stressed further that the idea is not just to give the women ID cards but to financially empower them by training them in financial savings and business training among others while the card will give them access to everything they need to do including voting, travelling, bank account opening and withdrawal among others.
“We are adding a financial component that will make it easier for rural women who cannot have direct access to banking services to have access through this card. You can as well get public and private support through this card,” she added.