The Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chapter, has expressed interest in partnering with the Chinese Embassy to enhance capacity building for its members and promote media exchange between Nigeria and China.

The association made this known during a courtesy visit to the Chinese Embassy on Tuesday in Abuja.

Speaking during the visit, NAWOJ FCT Chairperson, Bassey Ita Ikpang, highlighted the association’s achievements in advocacy, awareness creation and professional development, particularly in the areas of maternal health, women’s rights and girl-child education.

She said NAWOJ FCT is committed to supporting the embassy through responsible, balanced and development-focused media engagement, amplification of embassy-supported initiatives across its media networks, grassroots community outreach, especially among women and youths and cultural exchange through storytelling and people-to-people diplomacy.

Ikpang stressed that NAWOJ believes strongly in partnerships built on mutual respect, shared values and common development goals.

“We are confident that collaboration between NAWOJ FCT and the Chinese Embassy will further strengthen women’s empowerment, media development and people-to-people relations between Nigeria and China. We look forward to further discussions and sustained engagement,” she said.

Responding, Dung Hairong, Counsellor at the Embassy of China, noted that China and Nigeria have enjoyed a strong and cordial bilateral relationship over the years.

She acknowledged the cooperation of the Nigerian media, but observed that misconceptions, misunderstandings and occasional one-sided reporting still exist.

Hairong recalled the Global Women Leaders Summit held in Beijing in October last year, which brought together heads of state, government officials and women affairs leaders from different countries to advance women’s empowerment and protect the rights of women and girls.

She said the summit was successful and outlined five core measures announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping to support women’s development globally.

According to her, the measures include a $10 million donation for women-related causes, the allocation of $100 million to fund projects prioritising women and girls, the launch of 1,000 small livelihood projects for women and girls worldwide, and an initiative to invite 50,000 women to China over five years for exchange and training programmes.

She explained that the programme would be implemented over five years, with about 10,000 women participating annually, adding that Nigerian women, particularly women journalists have strong prospects of benefiting from the initiative.

“We can collaborate to ensure Nigerian women, especially women journalists, make good use of these opportunities,” she said.