By CECILIA OLOGUNAGBA

The Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande on Friday solicited the support of member states for two Nigerian candidates vying for two UN committee seats.

Muhammad-Bande presented the two candidates, Amb. Peters Emuze and Mrs. Esther Eghobamien-Mshelia, at a reception hosted by the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN at Nigeria House in New York.

Emuze is vying for re-election into the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).

Mrs. Eghobamien-Mshelia is seeking election into the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Committee.

“We thank you for honouring our invitation as we present two outstanding candidates for two important positions,’’ Muhammad-Bande told the guests.

Addressing the reception, Emuze said he was seeking re-election into CESCR, contesting for one of the two remaining vacant positions for Africa.

“Egypt and Morocco have been elected in 2021 and as matter of fact, Egypt currently chairs the Committee as a member of the Africa Group,’’ he said.

Emuze solicited for votes and support for his re-election for a second term as the election holds on April 13.

“I thank you for honouring our invitation and I kindly urge you to vote for Nigeria,’’ he said.

Similarly, Eghobamien-Mshelia solicited for the votes into CEDAW Committee, pledging robust gender programmes for member states.

“I’m seeking election because we do have a long way to go to realise gender equality and for me, Artificial Intelligence, robotics are sub-sectors to understand in promoting gender issues.

“As a new digital economy is unfolding, I think, gender issues should be central to that, and I believe that a general recommendation on gender and digital economy is something I will work with you to achieve.

“We can push that in the CEDAW so that we have a clearer framework of a linkage between the new digital economy and gender issues.

“We need to understand the link between digital economy and gender issues so we don’t reinvent discrimination, and for us who are from developing countries, there are new, emerging investment opportunities from the global North.

“The question is how do we engender the opportunities? How do we engender procurement? How do we engender energy? There are threats and opportunities that we must contend with from the gender perspective.

“I assure you that if you elect me, I will bring the wealth of experience that I have to bear and to shape the gender world so that we can have a more equitable future,’’ she said.

Eghobamien-Mshelia, who is seeking election into CEDAW Committee for 2023 to 2026 period, was nominated to serve on the committee to fill the void occasioned by the demise of Nigeria’s representative in 2018.

She set up the CEDAW Hub as a virtual support tool to enhance understanding of CEDAW among stakeholders for the two years she has served.

More than 100 grassroots women’s organisations have been trained and are assessing the hub till date. (NAN)

•PHOTO: The outgoing President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande (L) and his successor, Mr Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the General Assembly, at the handover ceremony in New York on Tuesday (15/9/20). 05111/15/9/2020/BJO/NAN

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