Man, right from the time, the Almighty Creator declared, “It is not good for the man to be alone”, hardly doubts that without women, life is not worth Living. Some of them do propound, however that disobedience and sin came with the creation of the woman; but who doubts that if the man had played effectively the role expected of a responsible partner the story of the forbidden fruit whose sweetness, became bitterness could be different!

From those prehistoric times through the Stone Age and the Paleolithic, to the Neolithic and today’s 21st century, the role of the woman has remained so primordial that any act of irresponsibility by her, embarrasses right – thinking persons. Besides, she has been blessed with the endowment of procreation and upbringing of the young. What a Pride!

As we celebrate this year’s Women Day with focus on her empowerment and the fight against hunger and poverty, we need not doubt the important role of this powerful majority in every society. We must not undermine the importance of the incentives they need to be more productive in their endeavours.

But what does it mean to empower women to be effective in the alleviation of poverty and fight against hunger? Who should be involved, and how best can the tasks be tackled? They certainly need moral and material support. Besides, we all face the task of translating wishes, slogans and themes into, action as the women themselves, contribute and why not mastermind what they stand for in their interest and that of the nation at large.

Are women willing to be empowered, and are the men prepared to carry out what is expected of them? Empowerment demands commitment to the attainment of goals cherished by women themselves, men, and their children. Hence there is need for patriotic awareness, and commitment to national objectives by all.

We celebrate this year’s International Day of women with so much in the news about the theft of babies, assassinations, and suicides, but can we blame the female thieves without reflection on what pushes some of them to such action? How can childless couples adopt the right way of solving their problems? Have we learnt to “bear one another’s burden?”

In the face of today’s embarrassing rate of suicide, theft of babies, divorce, violence, and the ever-growing number of street children, we must all assess our contributions toward not only the empowerment of women to fight hunger and poverty, but also the societal ills that betray our patriotism with commitment to peace and development.

In this way, we would be giving more meaning to the impressive themes and pageant celebrations that yearly mark the Commemoration of the International Women’s Day.