ESERC seeks stakeholders’ synergy to tackle increased GBV in Ebonyi

Economic and Social Empowerment of Rural Communication (ESERC) has appealed to the law enforcement officers, state GBV taskforce, community advocacy groups, service providers and other Stakeholders to support the fight against Gender based  violence which is on the increase in Ebonyi State.

The stakeholders received the charge during a two-day interface meeting and workshop on Gender Based Violence Prevention and Response organized by ESERC with support from the EU-UN spotlight initiative held in Abakaliki. 

According to ESERC project manager Mr Ikechukwu Nwaogu, the workshop was geared towards strengthening the capacity of the key actors and service providers for proper coordination and response to GBV issues in the state.

Nwaogu, also added that the Meeting of the stakeholders is to enhance collaboration to strengthen communication for effective response in solving the challenges of GBV.

His words “We brought together the key actors in order to enhance communication among them because we discovered that there is a communication gap existing among them. 

“There is communication gap from the reporting stage, to the service stage and indeed every other stage and it’s that communication gap that we hope to bridge through this process,” Nwaogu 

In her part, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs and social development, Mrs Chinwe Okah, said her ministry is committed in the fight against GBV and also ready to collaborate with willing partners to ensure that incidences of gender and sexual related Violence are eliminated in the state.

Okah represented by Mrs Marcellana Ibina, a director in the ministry noted that one of the greatest challenges of the government in the fight against GBV was the poor enforcement of laws and policies against gender-based related issues. 

She then prayed that the workshop which brought all the stakeholders together would strengthen the ongoing campaign even as she urged participants in the workshop to show commitment as GBV still remain prevalent in the state despite the efforts of the government in tackling the menace. 

“I commend the ESERC for organising this capacity building workshop for our key stakeholders in the fight against GBV especially violence against women and girl-child. 

“The ministry is not lagging behind in any issue relating to promoting the campaign to eradicate GBV in Ebonyi and we are going to stand by your organisation to ensure that the objectives of the programme is realised,” Okah said. 

“You have great work to do in our journey to free our communities of all forms of gender-related violence, therefore, you must take the workshop very seriously. 

“We have domesticated the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) law and other laws including law against Female Genital Mutilation; all aimed at eliminating violence against our people. 

“The persistence of GBV in the state means that we all need to work round the clock and in synergy until the state is freed from the menace, ” she added. 

Meanwhile, the Stakeholders identified ignorance, intimidation, stigmatization, poverty or lack of funding, cultural belief, threat to life and others as factors promoting Gender-Based Violence in the State and promise to ensure that GBV is reduced to a minimal in the State.