The Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chapter, has sought a partnership with the Finland Embassy to promote women's rights, press freedom, and the inclusion of marginalized groups.
During a courtesy visit to the Finland Embassy in Abuja, Bassey Ita Ikpang, Chairperson of NAWOJ FCT, emphasized the association's commitment to advocating for the rights of female journalists and ensuring press freedom.
She said, “we recognize the need for continuous training and capacity-building for our members. This is critical to ensuring that female journalists can navigate the evolving media landscape and continue to be strong advocates for gender equality and press freedom.
“We seek to strengthen partnerships with embassies, like Finland’s, and other organizations, to provide more training opportunities and foster collaborations that will amplify the voices of women across the FCT. “
Ikpang highlighted NAWOJ's achievements, including community outreach programs and initiatives to support rural women, particularly in areas such as land inheritance, healthcare, and education.
Ita Ikpang also shared NAWOJ FCT’s dedication to uplifting rural women, stating, "We are working hard to raise awareness about women's rights, especially concerning land inheritance and healthcare."
She described recent outreach efforts during World Breastfeeding Week to support rural women's needs.
The Chairperson called for increased training opportunities for female journalists, emphasizing, "We want to partner with embassies like Finland’s to provide our members with the skills they need to succeed in their careers."
In response, Ambassador Designate of the Finland Embassy, Sanna Selin, expressed her willingness to collaborate with NAWOJ FCT "she said, “One of my mandates here, from my foreign minister, is to try to improve the trade relations. And of course, we are following very much the themes that are familiar to you, women's rights, the political participation, gender regional questions, and security issues.
“And then, most of our ambassadors here have been women, so I'm very happy to continue this tradition of women ambassadors. I think half of our ambassadors nowadays are women, so very happy to be in that position, empowering women, and very happy to work with all of you, and hopefully we can find some new ways of cooperating also in the future.”