The Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development has called on stakeholders to be involved in combating violence against women, girls and tackle harmful traditional norms through comprehensive interventions among others .
The Director Women Development of Women Affairs, Funke Oladipo, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs Monilola Udoh during the Strengthening Capacities of Local Women’s Right Organization to Address Violence Against Women and Girls (SLOC-VAWG) end of project closeout and dissemination organised ActionAid Nigeria (AAN), in collaboration with partners through its project said Gender Base Violence (GBV) is multisectoral in nature which brings stakeholders to share knowledge and work across the board.
She said federal government’s approach is to support all sectors and ensure that stakeholders are able to contribute their quota in the society.
Also, the Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria , Ene Obi, further explained that the project closeout is Strengthening Capacities of Local Women’s Right Organization to Address Violence Against Women and Girls (SLOC-VAWG) funded by Ford Foundation .
She said according to the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) of 2018, the prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) in Nigeria has shown an alarming increase, rising from 31% in 2008 to 36%.
She said this significant escalation underscores the pressing issue of violence against women in the country. As a result of these, 3 states were selected for the implementation of the Strengthening the Capacities of Local Women’s Rights Organizations to Combat Violence against Women and Girls (SLOC VAWG) project, targeting 34 communities and 42 schools.
She said Gender-Based Violence (GBV) are the harmful socio-cultural norms, the culture of silent, negative masculinity amongst others.
According to her, in response to these challenges, the SLOC VAWG Project strengthened the institutions and capacities of local women’s rights organizations to combat violence against women and girls and tackle harmful traditional norms through comprehensive interventions.
She said these includes awareness campaigns to educate communities about GBV and its consequences, training programs to empower women and girls to assert their rights, and engagement with community leaders to challenge discriminatory norms and practices.
Also, the Programme Officer for agenda, Ford Foundation, Funke Baruwa said SLOC-VAWG project is important and it strengthen them to effectively reduce GBV.
She also said Ford Foundation is working with government at the State, National and Regional levels to support women affected through GBV .
” We believe that if we can tackle the social norms ,we will be to tackle GBV by engaging Traditional Rulers and make them champions . We must continue to push the boundaries by working directly with the communities,” She said.
During the background to the SLOC-VAWG project, the Manager, Women’s Right Unit, AAN, Niri Goyit said the context specific of GBV is to contribute to women and girls living with reduced GBV and the fear of it.
She estimated that the total number of direct reach was 20,289 which is Women (8764), Men (3234), Girls (4812), Boys (3387) and PWD (92).
