By Danjuma Attah, Gombe
A critical stakeholder in the push to end the dreaded gender based violence (GBV), Dr Leah Iliya Jalo, has given kudos to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) in Gombe State, for creating the much needed awareness on the existence and ways of addressing the menace in the State.
Dr. Leah, a senior lecturer in the department of languages and linguistics, Gombe State University (GSU) and one of the facilitators during a workshop, made the commendation during a one day multi-level dialogue and sensitisation workshop for youth and women leaders in Zambuk and Liji communities of Gombe State States.
According to her, though the prevalence of gbv in the State is still horrible, she however commended FOCEI and many other NGO’s for sustaining the awareness campaign that has made more people being aware of the menace in Gombe State.
The workshop was organised by Foundation for Community Empowerment Initiative (FOCEI) in collaboration with Women Aid Collective (WACOL) aimed at empowering Christian Women and women leaders of culture for prevention and response to gender based violence in Nigeria, through the strengthening of grassroots organisations.
Dr Leah told our Correspondent in an interview that, “efforts put in place by so many NGO’s domiciled in Gombe must be given kudos for the work they are doing and people now know that there are referral pathways that they can follow in the case of GBV.
“We are enlightened as a people but our enlightenment should not just show in words, but reflect in our actions as individuals and communities.
“People now know that there is a one-stop-shop in the State Specialist Hospital that they can now go and have all the services that they can”, she pointed out.
She described youths as pivotal and play a critical role in ensuring that the whole world know about GBV using the technology available to them, adding, “when you equip them with this knowledge, they create more awareness using the social media, thereby becoming ambassadors soliciting for the change that we desire”.
Earlier, Dr Benjamin Maina, the team lead of FOCEI, told the participants at the commencement of the workshop that they play a critical role in winning the fight against GBV in their communities.
He urged the youths to be vanguards of ensuring that the culture of silence by victims of GBV or their relatives is being broken.
He also appealed to them to ensure that they step down what they gathered from the workshop to their immediate communities or organisations. He then pledged an open door to enable them join hands with FOCEI for the success of the campaign.
Some of the youths who spoke during the workshop commended the efforts of FOCEI in the campaign. They also provided many other ways that can enable the campaign to succeed.
End.
