Nobel Peace Prize winner tasks African leaders on selective implementation of SDGs

Nobel Peace Prize winner tasks African leaders on selective implementation of SDGs
NAN-F10
Leaders
By Ekemini Yemi-Ladejobi
New York, Sept. 26, 2016 (NAN) Ms Leymah Gbowee, Liberian-born 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has called on African leaders to put aside politics of selective funding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Gbowee who is also the UN advocate for the SDGs  disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday at the UN headquarters in New York.
She said that for Africa to do well, Africans leaders  must deliberately put aside the politics of selective funding and put in place, a holistic kind of funding for our people to benefit.
“Governments  need to deliberately decide ways to engage civil society as partners just as they are engaging the wealthy people as partners, the private business people, because sometimes people see civil societies as a nuisance to society.
“But civil societies are the ones that hold the governments to account and I think once they forge a strong partnership around the SDGs, we are going somewhere and also making progress,” she said.
Gbowee who spoke on women’s  participation in governance,  said there is the need to copy the western world on women participation in governance, adding that time has come for African leaders to appreciate women’s roles and skills.
“Until they begin to see their contributions as crucial, the continent will not develop.
“I think it’s time for governments to recognize and appreciate and begin to use the women skills”.
According to her, if you go to the villages in our communities in Nigeria, who is holding the economy of these villages in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and other African countries?. It is the women.
“I  think government needs to start to put monetary values on the works the women and see how much the women are doing and really begin to appreciate it.
“Over time globally, people tend to just deal with those who they think are making strong contributions and because in most of our society we have women farmers in small scale business people, you find a vast majority of women in those areas.
Gbowee also expressed concerns for some African leaders she described as “Sit tight” leaders, saying that that they are doing disservice to the people of the continent.
She said though people say Africa is moving forward and doing great in entrepreneurship, business, innovations, “but when it comes to leadership there’s a lot of rolling back.
” “We are taking many steps backward  and I think that one word that I can use is this quote that the President of the UN General Assembly used at the opening day, he says, ” politicians think about the next elections, statesmen think about the next generations,” she added
Gbowee said the time has come  for African people to start voting into offices in Africa people who are really trying to consciously engage the next generation and not those who have the right political rhetoric.
She said people should start voting for leaders who have  platforms that addresses economy, health care, education, and the basic needs of the people and not people who come and speak “a lot and steal a lot, I think that is where the crux of the matter is”.
She appealed to the media to educate the  electorates on the need to vote the right people into office.
“You should not just wait for election year to educate people, begin right after the first election for example in Nigeria it is four years so, you begin immediately after the last elections,” she added.
NAN reports that Gbowee is a peace activist responsible for leading a women’s peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. (NAN)
(Edited by Julius Enehikhuere)