Women’s Rights Advancement & Protection Alternative (WRAPA)/EU-UN Spotlight Initiative and Save the Child Initiative, STCI, said they are taking the campaign against gender-based violence to the grassroots in Sokoto.
“We are targeting six local government areas- Illela, Shagari, Raba, Binji, Sokoto South, and Sokoto North. We are boosting the capacities of community groups based in these localities, who have a history of intervention supporting women development, women emancipation, child protection as well as working in other areas of sexual gender-based violence,” Chief Executive of Save the Child Initiative, Abdulganiyu Abubakar, stated.
Speaking at a strategy meeting on institutionalising sustainable development goals benchmark for sexual gender-based violence and harmful practices, he stressed the need to empower CSOs and individuals with knowledge on SDG benchmark and policy as well as government commitment for attaining the goals.
Also speaking, project assistant of the WRAPA/EU/UN Spotlight Initiative, Umar Ummi, said: “The concern here is to assist the CSOs to carry out their activities in supporting women, children and girls because of the situation the whole world is experiencing on gender-based violence.
“What spotlight is doing is to carry along everybody that is into addressing gender-based violence and see that they are able to continue the work that they are doing in a better way.”
Meanwhile, a multi-stakeholder’ forum has also stressed the need to break the culture of silence over widespread sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women and children.
Speaking, Chief Executive of Save the Child Initiative, Abdulganiyu Abubakar, identified inadequate legal framework to prohibit sexual /gender-based violence, poor law enforcement and culture of silence over improprieties against women among others as the major factors for the rate of SGBV.
“SGBV is a tragedy with long-term medical and psychological consequences,” he said.
Abubakar noted the need for a clear and explicit law towards reducing the scourge in Nigeria and worldwide.
