From Scholastica Hir Makurdi
The Ministry of Health through its World Bank supported project, COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Project, (CoPREP), has sensitized stakeholders in Benue state on the consequences of Gender Based Violence, (GBV), with a call on them to join forces against the menace.
The programme Consultant in the state, Dooshima Ageh, who spoke to newsmen after a stepdown training with traditional rulers, and leaders of several communities and organizations in Makurdi, said it became necessary to engage the stakeholders on GBV especially the traditional institution as they are they ones to drive the implementation of the programme at the grassroots.
She explained that “The project, CoPREP, was conceived as an intervention when Covid-19 started and we started noticing that cases of GBV was increasing in the state and across the world.
“So there was a need to have a gender component to the intervention in Covid-19 to address the issues of GBV that were taking place in our communities.”
She noted that cases of GBV have continued unabated in the communities despite a lot of awareness in the issue.
She also regretted that even as people have become aware and are willing to report their cases, justice have not been duly served on the reported cases so far as only two convictions were recorded last year, 2023, on the cases being treated in the state.
“So this project is important as it goes out to mobilize actors and stakeholders that are intervening on GBV in the LGAs.”
While she expressed concerns on the fate of the survivor and their families as well as the reaction of the society towards GBV, Ageh said “I am worried that when GBV cases happen, people take it as normal or when it a child, they say he or she would overcome it. But there are psychological consequences.”
She said the danger on women is that GBV has been linked to life fatalities such as death, long time life threatening crisis like child birth or fertility among other silent killers of women who are survivors.
She also noted that GBV leads to revengeful actions on the side of survivors where some vow to get back at the society, “so the society must not take cases of GBV lightly. It’s a trend we shouldn’t take for granted. It is a problem that everyone in the society must join hands to address.”
She expressed joy that meeting had intimated the stakeholders with the action plan and activities for the year and has also given them the opportunity to contribute to it.
She however said to end GBV, in Benue, stakeholders must push for women and girls education and economic empowerment and support awareness campaign on GBV prevention.
She said they must also support and work with relevant stakeholders and authorities to ensure implementation of relevant laws and policies in the state such as the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) law, the anti harmful practices against widows, anti kidnapping laws, child rights laws among others.
Earlier, Acting Director of Women Affairs, in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Magdalene Andor, urged the stakeholders to take the meeting serious and contribute meaningfully as the ministry is poised to work with individuals, group of persons or organizations to nip GBV in the bud in Benue.
Resource persons, Chile Tersoo, and Osasu Edobor, speaking on Environmental Safeguard for the GBV Project and Gender Action Plan, Basics, Assessment and Mitigating GBV, urged traditional rulers and community leaders to set up structures to address matters relating to GBV in their communities while the stakeholders, speaking individually, appreciated World Bank, the Ministry of Health and the state ministry of women affairs for the programme.
They pledged their commitment to the programme to enable it’s full implementation and success in the state.