The National Council of Women (NCW) strongly believes in the role of men and boys in achieving gender equality and its vitality for future work in promoting equality between men and women.

In a statement to mark Women’s Day, to be celebrated on Thursday, the council said that women alone could not achieve improved relations between women and men and men must be fully integrated into the process.

Men’s involvement in promoting gender equality was critical in reaching gender balance in a number of areas.

The council believes in the value of statistics as an important tool for advocacy and lobbying to change laws and policies.

“It is important for governments to publish statistics in order to show the real situation of men and women within our country. Statistics are a vital tool in achieving gender goals laid down in the Beijing Platform for Action, and in monitoring the effectiveness of gender-based policies and programmes,” it said.

NCW also believes in the value that statistics have in improving the socio-economic situation of women, enhancing their participation in politics, and highlighting unequal resources between the sexes.