Sexual and Gender Violence Response Committee, a specialised platform made up of stakeholders from governments, civil society groups, the media and security agencies, has disclosed that it would “henceforth provide emergency response to victims of sexual assault in Yobe state.”
This was the outcome of a three-day strategic planning workshop for steering members of the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) held in Damaturu, the Yobe state capital.
The Committee made the disclosure on Friday in Damaturu.
Organised by the Managing Conflicts in North-east Nigeria (MCN), a European Union-funded programme being implemented by the British Council, the workshop was aimed at “adequately equipping participants with knowledge and skills on delivering their expected mandates.”
“It is ensure that the Yobe SARC receives the resources (funds, staffing, equipment, drugs and other consumables) needed to deliver free immediate emergency medical treatment, counseling and legal
advice to any survivor of sexual assault irrespective of age, religion, gender or social status.”
The Yobe MCN British Council State Team Leader, Sambo A. Abdulkadir, said “the Committee serves as a policy deriving initiative that was created to support the smooth running of the Yobe Sexual Assault
Referral Center (SARC) located at Women and Children Hospital in Damaturu.”
Blueprint Weekend gathered that the workshop “is also to build collaboration and partnership between health, justice, security, and other institutions for the implementation of protocols and systems
that expand access to sexual assault response and referral services for all citizens.”
