The European Union and United Nations (EU-UN) Spotlight Initiative Thursday expressed excitement over the successful abolition of ‘money/baby marriage’ practice in Obanliku local government area of Cross River state.
It said the campaign against violence against women and girls and other harmful practices was paying off gradually.
Speaking in Calabar, executive director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development, Mr. Monday Osasah, described the effort made by traditional and religious leaders in the fight against gender based violence as ‘historic’ and explained that Spotlight Initiative was seeking to ensure “women and girls live a life free from violence and harmful practices.”
Osasah noted that since the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative capacity building session took place in Obanliku last month, “it has been one story of success or the other”, and that extant laws and old generational traditions which were skewed against women and girls were being abolished.
He said with the awareness campaign by the global body, in the collaboration with critical stakeholders, Obanliku and other communities had abolished “all forms of widowhood practices, female genital mutilation/cutting; all forms of discrimination against the education of female children as well as ensuring that victims of rape get justice.”
In his remarks, the Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, said the federal government would continue to provide the enabling environment for women and children, especially girls, to realize their full potential.
