Stakeholders in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence in Ebonyi State have expressed commitment towards the sustainability of the campaign in the 13 local government area of the state.
The stakeholders who made the commitment during its 2024 first quarter GBV coordination meeting in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital maintained that the brainstorm discuss was aimed at sustaining the Programme.
The event was organised by the Taskforce in collaboration with the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, with support from the USAID-Integrated Health Programme.
The stakeholders at the meeting further strengthened their collective commitment to continue advancing the fight in spite of the imminent close out of a major partner’s project in the state.
The USAID-IHP would be closing out its project soon in the state and according to the stakeholders, the organisation has remained a major partner and supporter of GBV taskforce activities in the state.
Participants at the meeting including civil society organisations, representatives of concerned government ministries, departments and agencies; security agencies, NAPTIP and the media, among others, deliberated extensively on ways of sustaining and building upon the successes so far recorded in the fight.
One of the strategies agreed upon at the meeting was to adopt a more robust, multi-sectorial approach to the fight.
The approach includes increased advocacy to secure the interest of more relevant government ministries and department as well as individual economic influencers to support the fight.
Others includes, strategy of increased GBV surveillance, synergy with the state primary healthcare development agency, community leaders for increased documentation and reporting of sexual and gender-based violence cases from primary health facilities and other primary sources across the state, among others.
