The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in Nigeria has organised a workshop to sensitise traditional and faith leaders in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and five states to sexual and gender-based violence in the country.
FIDA in a release obtained by newsmen added that the sensitisation was also to tackle issues such as; child and early forced marriage, trafficking in persons’ prevention and response strategies.
The group in the statement by the Programme Manager, Mr Fikih Obaro, explained that the training would spread across 24 Nigerian local communities where the societal issues were prevalent.
“FIDA Nigeria is collaborating with Palladium under the SCALE (Strengthening Civil Advocacy & Local Engagement) Project which is being supported by USAID.
“The training will hold in May 2022 both in Delta and the Federal Capital Territory and is meant to increase gender-sensitive information and awareness-raising on the menace because traditional and faith leaders are uniquely placed to prevent SGBV and CEFM where they are domiciled, given their understanding of the local context, and having native knowledge of predisposing factors & practices that encourage and allow SGBV, CEFM, and TIP to thrive,” the statement said.
The trainees would be selected from 24 communities across six states namely; Delta, Bauchi, Katsina, Ebonyi, Federal Capital Territory and Osun.
Amina Suzannah Agbaje, FIDA Vice President/National President of FIDA Nigeria, said, “It is our expectation that at the end of this training workshop, traditional and faith leaders will be well equipped to serve as advocates and paralegals which will transcend in the development of byelaws in preventing this menace.
“Furthermore, they will be able to institutionalise and establish coordinated response and referral pathways in tandem with the law enforcement agencies towards ensuring arrests and prosecution of perpetrators of these crimes, while working with state actors to create a gender sensitive and protective environment for survivors.”
