From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Fatima Waziri-Azi, has called for improved budgetary allocation to enable the organisation to effectively fight the persistent issue of Gender Based Violence in the Country (GBV).
The DG made the appeal during a courtesy visit by the Gender Advancement Strategy International (GSAI), a nonprofit organisation, in her office recently in Abuja.
Represented by Mrs Ijeoma Amugo, the Director Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Department in NAPTIP, Azi said that it was alarming the rate of violence against persons, especially spousal battery and abandonment as well as sexual offences in the federal capital territory (FCT).
She also lamented the reluctance of victims to speak out and pursue cases to the end, noting that those were some of the factors that have been hindering the war against the menace.
The Director encouraged victims to always speak up in order to break the culture of silence, assuring that the organisation has put in place policies and programs, including non-disclosure of their identities to protect and secure victims.
She added that the agency was working with people with disabilities and ensuring that they are also carried along.
Amugo, however, lamented that the enactment of the VAPP act in 2015, had put a strain on the agency’s finances as it had been forced to manage available resources originally earmarked for human trafficking to address issues of GBV since there is yet to be budgetary allocation for that.
“You know when1 the Act was enacted, there was no financial budget for it, so we have just been managing our resources.We need more advocacy to encourage the government to help us to increase the budget.
“Yesterday, our DG went for budget defense and she was applauded because they saw what she has done with the little resources. But we want that applause to translate to real time. We want to see it in our account, to see that we have the finances to fight this war. So let the media amplify it. Let it be seen that we need this financial intervention.” She stated.
On her part, the Executive Director, GSAI, Mrs Adaora Sydney-Jack, said the organisation was interested in collaborating with other groups who are intentional about securing inclusive interventions particularly for
women and persons with disabilities.
She added that NAPTIP saddled with such important mandate of protecting the right of vulnerable people, needed more visibility to inform the public about what the organisation actually does.
“We thought that having spoken to all other stakeholders and engaged them, it was very important for us as an organisation, to also see how we can step down some of your interventions and give a lot more visibility to some of the things that you are doing. Because primarily for us as an organisation apart from being an intermediary between stakeholders and beneficiaries, we are also very keen on advocacy and visibility and until see something, believability is very narrow.” Sydney-Jack said.
The Director, further explained that the organisation was currently running a project called Gender Accountability, inclusivity in Nigeria, (GAIN) in partnership with Open Society Africa to strengthen gender accountability and boost disability inclusion through research, advocacy and community engagement.
“We also want to know if there are areas of challenges in terms of communication, advocacy and visibility. Because we are very close to the communities here in the FCT. We have volunteers and directorates in all the Area councils, and we get weekly reports on what is happening in those councils. And women also report issues of cases of violence trying to reach the next and the best first line desk,” she said.