The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Nigeria, has engaged critical stakeholders in Ekiti State on strategic plans to end Gender-Based Violence (GBV) against women and girls.
The organisation convened key players in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, from different sectors such as the Ministry of Women Affairs, judiciary, security agencies, religious institutions, traditional institutions, media organisations, civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, among others, for the event with support from Ford Foundation.
Speaking, the Deputy President of FIDA Nigeria, Olubunmi Arajuwa, said the meeting tagged “Annual Multi-stakeholders dialogue on implementation/status of gender sensitive legislations/framework preventing violence against women and girls” was put together by the association to prevent violence against women.
She lamented the prevalence of GBV among women and girls, stressing that the discussion was fashioned to design methods to reduce the menace to its barest minimum in the state.
She added that the association is carrying out the stakeholders’ engagement in three states—Plateau, Lagos, and Ekiti—noting that prevailing violence against women has negative impacts on their well-being and contributions to society.
According to her, “the reason for bringing stakeholders together is to find a way to reduce gender based violence. That’s why we bring all the traditional rulers, policy makers, and police, to discuss how to reduce it.
“We found out that GBV is still escalating despite the efforts put in place by FIDA but this is a step forward to make sure that the menace is reduced to the minimum level.”
On his part, the Manager, Programs and Partnerships, Fikih Obaro, added that the meeting was also meant to sensitise the stakeholders on how to improve their approaches towards GBV cases.
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“Basically, the role of stakeholders in preventing GBV is very important, because they have the understanding of their local realities of their environment, local reality knowledge of the community.
“To make them understand the issues they facilitate GBV in their community and the state and try to see how we can work collectively in a coordinated manner to address GBV.
“It’s not something an individual can take care of alone, they need the collaboration and effective coordination of others. This platform is an avenue for them to improve the way they collectively work in preventing GBV,” he said.
A religious leader, Temilade Oluwadare, also revealed that religious institutions in the state are already addressing GBV issues through sensitisation and advocacy.
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