The National Information Officerof the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) for Nigeria, Oluseyi Soremekun,has urged Nigerian parents to think equal and shun stereotypes that discriminateagainst girls and women by training their children to advance gender equality. He said this on Tuesday, 19thMarch, 2019 at an event, which was part of the activities to mark thecelebration of the International Women’s Day. The event was organised by UNIC,Luciano Global Foundation and Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Areas(LCDA) Lagos. “Promotion of gender equalityshould start from the family level,” Dr Soremekun said. “When parents think equal, boysand girls in the family would have equal opportunities to succeed in life.” Speaking on the 2019 Women’s Daytheme: Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change, Dr Soremekun furthercalled on parents to encourage their daughters to pursue a career in innovationand technology to bridge a growing gender digital gap in which women areunder-represented in the field of science, technology, engineering, mathematicsand design. “Science and technology field isnot exclusive to men,” he added. EduCeleb.com reports thatthe 2019 International Women’s Day has the theme Balance for Better and wasmarked on 8th March worldwide. In her remark, the Lagos State HonourableCommissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), Dr Lola Akande,acknowledged the relevance of the 2019 Women’s Day theme to the activities ofWAPA, especially as related to women empowerment. Represented by Mrs N. O.Goodluck, the Commissioner urged the women to network for business and availthemselves of opportunities offered by the ministry. Speaking, the Founder of LucianoGlobal Development Initiative (LGDI), Ms Lucy Olaniyi, called for more activeinvolvement of women and girls in innovation to remove barriers and accelerateprogress towards addressing the gender digital divide. Addressing the participants onthe importance of digital device, the Founder of Hope Rising Foundation, MrTayo Adigun, enjoined the women to use social media for business developmentinstead of restricting their activities to social chatting only. “Create a strong marketing forcefor yourself on the social media,” he added.