Health
FEDERAL Ministry of Women Affairs has lauded the commitment of UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in driving the process for a roadmap and call to action on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in North East.
The Women Affairs Minister, Mrs Pauline Tallen, made the commendation on Tuesday in Maiduguri at a worshop organised by UNFPA to develop Call to Action Initiative on protection from GBV in emergencies.
Tallen also appreciated the government of Denmark as the global chair of the Call to Action for the Development of North East Nigeria Roadmap 2022-2025 with support from Norwegian Government.
The minister said that the workshop is to develop a multi-year North East Roadmap to ensure effective coordination and support for field level activities of relevant stakeholders in the implementation of the call to action.
She added that “this workshop is to enable us generate a comprehensive, lifesaving and impactful roadmap to consolidate on the successes recorded in the implementation of the 2018-2019 roadmap.
“The strength of the call to action lies in the power of collective action and the shared commitment of diverse stakeholders.
“The success of the call to action will ultimately be determined by the crisis-affected women, girls, families and communities who are safer because GBV is addressed in partnership with them from the start of the humanitarian response to the restoration of peace and development.”
The Borno Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hajiya Zuwaira Gambo, said that to address the prevalence of GBV, the state government in partnership with humanitarian community established the GBV Sub-Sector Working Group that plays key role in GBV risk mitigation response.
Gambo said that the state had passed the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act to ensure absolute accountability on the sexual violence front in Borno.
Dr Fatima Waziri-Azi, the Director-General of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) also lauded UNFPA for pioneering the dialogue and intervention programmes toward reducing the suffering of victims of GBV in the North East.
Waziri-Azi, represented by the Acting Director, VAPP Department, Mrs Ijeoma Amugu, said NAPTIP as an agency with the mandate to protect and assist victims of violence, would work with stakeholders to reduce GBV cases.
She added that the agency, through its programmes of awareness creation, prosecution, partnership, protection and assistance as well as rapid response to cases of violence, had been doing its best in this regard.
In a message, the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chief Tony Ojukwu, assured the commitment of the commission to the fight against GBV.
Ojukwu, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Research, Mrs Ngozi Okore, said the commission recorded 158,517 complaints on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against women and children in 2021.
He added that the commission has created counselling unit to address the problem. (NAN)
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Tags: Fatima Waziri-Azi FEDERAL Ministry of Women Affairs Hajiya Zuwaira Gambo National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Ngozi Okore Pauline Tallen Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Tony Ojukwu UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP)
