Come November 20, 2018, the Abuja Sheraton Hotel and Towers will play host to the third edition of the annual Voice of Women (VOW) conference and awards. The high octane event will feature a galaxy of eminent female personalities led by the first lady Dr (Mrs) Aisha Buhari as special guest of honour and Africa’s richest woman Folorunsho Alakija as chairwoman.
The highly anticipated event is a celebration of womanhood in public spaces and in keeping with the theme of this year’s event “women beyond barriers” will showcase and celebrate women achievers who have broken down social, cultural and religious walls and attained high status in public consciousness.
The VOW conference and awards is a platform to amplify the voices of women and demand for good governance through accountability and transparency. An initiative of Women Radio 91.7 in partnership with WRAPA with support from the MacArthur Foundation, it is a gathering of female Who’s Who under one roof to highlight the prospects and tackle the problems of women in the public arena especially politics and business.
This year’s edition is strictly by invitation and will feature the first lady of Ekiti Erelu Bisi Fayemi and Senior Program Office, MacArthur Foundation Amina Salihu as lead speakers. They will be joined on the podium by the likes of Amina Abubakar Bello, Iyalode Alaba Lawson, Dr Amina Oyagbola, and Hajia Hadiza Abubakar. Including a few female aspirants in the 2019 general elections who will also mount the stage, these women have risen to the top in their respective public careers and thus serve as models for what is possible for the woman notwithstanding the challenging Nigerian environment.
The Awards component of the VOW Conference and Awards is a move designed to recognize and reward the few individuals and organizations who have proven to be consistent voices of change and progress for Nigerian women. During the event they will be feted garlanded with well-deserved accolades.