By CSN Media
The founder of the Centre for Women Studies and Intervention (CWSI), Rev. Sr. Francisca Ngozi Uti, HHCJ, stated that the $1 million 2024 Opus Prize Award is not for personal use or gain, but an aid to expand the scope of CWSI’s work. “The money is not given to you to empower you personally, but to aid you do your work, expand it and reach out to more people,” she explained.
In an exclusive interview with CSN Media, the CWSI founder and Executive Director, expressed her gratitude for the recognition, which she sees as a testament to the collective efforts of her team in promoting women’s empowerment and rights in Nigeria. “The award is a recognition of our work, and it encourages us to do more. Most of us as Women Religious, we just do our work without looking for unnecessary publicity unlike most NGOs around,” she said.
The Opus Prize Laureate also explained that the $1 million award is not given out to the recipient all at once, but in parts, depending on the organization’s annual budget. “The money is not given at once, but in parts, depending on your annual budget, and also to monitor how you spend it, to avoid misuse and misappropriation,” she added.
The Opus Prize Award, which was presented to Rev. Sr. Uti in California recently, will be utilized to expand CWSI’s programs and services, including the establishment of a research centre and the empowerment of women economically.
“We will invest more on some of the projects we want to do,” Sr. Uti said. “We will invest in how to publish our work and give it a wider media visibility. We also hope to establish a research centre, where people can get any resources concerning women. Over and above, we intend to get a befitting office for CWSI”
Established in 1999, CWSI has been at the forefront of promoting women’s rights and empowerment in Nigeria. The Nigerian Nun cited the organization’s success in dismantling harmful cultural practices, such as discrimination against women, female genital mutilation, and promoting women’s participation in politics as part of their thematic areas of intervention.
The Handmaids Religious, attributed her motivation for founding CWSI to the cultural factors that perpetuate discrimination against women in Nigeria. “The story my mother told me, and this male child preference that a lot of women still have to suffer for till today,” she recalled. “In some states, if a woman doesn’t have a male child, it’s like she has no stake in the family.”
Sr. Uti who is part of the inaugural cohort of the Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship further noted that the Catholic Church in Nigeria has a significant role to play in promoting women’s rights and empowerment in Nigeria.
The Women’s empowerment advocate emphasized the need for the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) to take a more active role in addressing discrimination against women. “If the Bishops come together and agree, we can end it,” she said. “The traditional rulers listen to them and respect them, both the men and women in the church respect them, so they can do a lot to bring about the needed change.”
The Opus Prize Laureate who holds a Ph.D. in gender and women’s studies, an MBA, and a B.S. in institutional management, reinstated her resolve to remain committed to her mission of promoting women’s empowerment and challenging harmful cultural practices in Nigeria. “We will continue to work tirelessly to promote the rights and dignity of women in Nigeria,” she reaffirmed.
