Ahead of the World Day of Social Justice, stakeholders called for urgent action to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion, gender inequality, unemployment, human rights and social protections.
The UN World Day of Social Justice is annually observed on Feb. 20.
It seeks to encourage people to look at how social justice affects poverty eradication.
It also focuses on the goal of achieving full employment and support for social integration.
Speaking at an event on Thursday, February 17, to mark the 2022 World Day of Social Justice, Mr Nsikan Paul, Executive Director, Drum Majors for Peace (DMP), said social justice can only be achieved when it addresses every aspect of human life.
Making reference to the theme of the 2022 World Day of Social Justice – “Achieving Social Justice through Formal Employment’’, Paul advised stakeholders to concentrate solution finding.
”Stakeholders should spend more time about ways to make to move the country forward.
”This should be done than spending time discussing what is not working.
“80 per cent should be on solution finding and 20 per cent on fault finding,” Paul emphasised.
In the same vein, David Agu, a panelist during the discussion, said that it was generally assumed that stakeholders in social justice should be only the government.
He however stated that the government being the major stakeholder had also contributed to the problem been experienced in social justice.
He therefore advised that instead of everyone waiting on the government to do everything, everyone should internalise to achieve social justice in greater dimension.
“Social justice should trickle down to individual member of the society who is also a stakeholder of social justice to ensure fairness and equity.”
Speaking about whether there was progress in the fight against gender based violence, Amina Danjuma, another panelist answered in the affirmative.
Danjuma said that, until recently, in regards to gender based violence issue, it was more of advocacy.
”Gender based violence issue until recently was more of preaching, but it doesn’t stop at that, instead effort towards accountability matrix are being intensified as regards taking actions against perpetrator of these acts.
”We need accountability system where if someone is taking a child to help them, they are made to register so that if anything goes wrong, the person is held responsible.
”There is tremendous progress in gender based violence issue especially in evidence based system that has been adopted where data are gotten and analysed for NEED assessment, as things are no longer done blindly.
”Stakeholders also need to speak up and speak against gender based violence instead of the usual culture of silence.
”We need accountability system where if someone is taking a child to help them, they are made to register so that if anything goes wrong, the person is held responsible.
”There is tremendous progress in gender based violence issue especially in evidence based system that has been adopted where data are gotten and analysed for NEED assessment, as things are no longer done blindly.
”Stakeholders also need to speak up and speak against gender based violence instead of the usual culture of silence.
”We know that men are mostly the perpetrator of these violence, however some time women are also guilty as they turn a blind eye to these act and remain silent instead of speaking up,” Danjuma added.
During the event, a magazine called the “Intentional Icons of Social Justice” was unveiled.
Also, awards were given to Mrs Julie Ameachi, wife of Minister of Transport, and Alex Nwankwo, a Youth Leader, and Dr. Suleiman Adejoh, a Peace Ambassador, in recognition of their roles in social justice.
By Glory Abuh-Adejoh
