OWACDO SEEKS POLICE SUPPORT FOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS CANADA PROJECT TO FIGHT SGBV & ADOPT SEXUAL OFFENDERS REGISTER…COMMITS TO PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT FOR CULPRITS, SURVIVORS.
In continuation of its strategic visits to key institutions to solicit support for the fight against Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), Okaha Women and Children Development Organisation (OWACDO) today visited the Benue State Command of the Nigeria Police to seek for their collaboration as part of its mandate to implement a Global Affairs Canada (GAC) intervention project in Benue State through Action Aid Nigeria.
Speaking during the visit, Executive Director of OWACDO, Mrs. Joy Ijuwo, said the GAC project tagged, “Women Voice and Leadership Nigeria Project (WVL-N)”, which was birthed in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown that led to a surge in Sexual and Gender Based Violence, is targeted at supporting the capacity and activities of Local Women’s Rights Organisations (LWROs) which seek to empower women and girls, advance their protection and achieve gender equality.
Mrs. Ijuwo confirmed that OWACDO, has the mandate to implement the project in the State with emphasis on SGBV cases, rehabilitation and economic empowerment of survivors and would accomplish this mandate through specific activities such as advocacy visits to solicit support of key institutions in fighting the menace, provision of a Safe Space, legal, medical and nutritional support for survivors, as well as, practical-based vocational and financial literacy trainings for them.
Other activities, she explained, would include trainings for other Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on how to tackle the SGBV scourge, production of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials and airing of radio jingles and messages on SGBV.
The OWACDO Founder appealed for police support to curb the scourge and “mitigate its impact by reporting and prosecuting cases in the State to make it safe for our women and girls”.
She called for “a dedicated desk for women, children and juvenile cases in all police stations and divisions to ensure that SGBV cases are handled sensitively, investigations carried out with clear evidence gathered and victims safeguarded from further harm.”
This, Mrs. Ijuwo averred, would “go a long way in helping survivors and send a warning signal to all perpetrators”. She committed to a collaboration with the police to provide psychosocial support to, not just survivors, but perpetrators as well, to really know why they engage in such acts with a view to providing them help and rehabilitation”.
Responding, the Benue State Commissioner of Police, Mukkadas Garba, announced that the police would provide OWACDO all the necessary co-operation and support it requires to combat SGBV and bring sanity to the society. He pointed out that a children and gender desk exists at all the police divisions and at the headquarters where the desk is manned by SP Ann Ameh, who he commended for her hardwork .
CP Mukkadas advised that OWACDO should endeavour “to take the fight everywhere, from house to house, village square to village square, schools, churches and mosques”. He urged them to involve traditional rulers and other critical stakeholders who are pivotal to the fight against SGBV at the grassroots.
The police chief pointed out the fight against SGBV contributes to curbing the spread of HIV citing cases some culprits raped a person living with HIV and exposed themselves to HIV.
He promised to avail the organisation with full record of sexual offenders to support its quest to establish a sexual offenders register in the State.
Highpoint of the visit was the presentation of Information, Educational and Communication (IEC) materials on SGBV to the CP.
The Chairman, Benue Non-Governmental Organisations Network, Mrs. Shemenge Kyaagba, OWACDO Board Member, Mr. Dan Andy and others who formed part of the advocacy team expressed commitment to fighting SGBV.
OWACDO, a community-based Non-Governmental Organisation with emphasis on empowerment of the vulnerable, poor and downtrodden in the society especially women and children, envisions a society where women and children have equal rights and access to good health, education and opportunities which it achieves through its six thematic areas of Health, Humanitarian Response, Child Development/Women Empowerment, Gender, Governance and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
In its ten years of existence, OWACDO has “carried out various projects and interventions with international partners, public institutions and other NGOs and agencies. #JusticeForOchanya#StopSexualGenderBasedViolence#ActionAidNigeria#GlobalAffairsCanada#GAC#OWACDO+8
