The Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, Ene Obi, has harped on the essence of gender justice by all organisations involved in providing humanitarian assistance to victims of disasters.
Obi, who was represented by the manager, Government Programme of ActionAid, Celestine Okwudili Odo, said this in her remarks at a three-day National Retreat on the National Humanitarian, Development and Peace Nexus framework held in Lagos between Tuesday and Thursday.
She highlighted the opportunity of the nexus approach to enhancing gender justice, including long term support to women’s rights organisations, and ensuring that women’s rights are integral to their immediate response and long-term outcome.
“Our approach in providing humanitarian assistance must be meeting immediate needs at the same time ensuring long-term investments and addressing the systematic causes of conflict and vulnerability.
“This approach presents us a better chance of reducing the impact of reoccurring shocks and stress, hence, creating ambience for needed peace which is also essential for sustainable development,” she said.
Also speaking at the event, the Chief Social Policy for UNICEF, Dr. Poufon Hamidon, said the implementation framework “we have designed in this three days has covered the five pillars of humanitarian without living out any.”
“We also hinged this on the relevant goals of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) talking of combating hunger, poverty, climate action and collaboration in achieving all these goals,” Hamidon said.
On his part, the national coordinator for Civil Society Network on Migration and Development, Rev. Emeka Chris Obiezu, gave a migration perspective to the discussion hammering on peace-building, the lack of which “results in migration and all attendant effects.”
