Four months after the Geidam community was almost overrun by the suspected Boko Haram insurgents, economic activities have picked up with most residents back to their ancestral homes.
However, the community had in the recent days experienced molestation especially forced marriage, torture, kidnapping, trafficking for sex among others.
In response to the gender based violence in insurgency affected communities of Geidam, African Youths for Peace Development and Empowerment Foundation (AFRYDEV) with support from UN-Women has conducted a 2-day capacity building training for Women and Girls survivors in Geidam L.G.A Yobe state.
Executive Director, Maryam Aje of the foundation , represented by the foundation’s Manager, Edoka Abdullahi Ogwuche explained that the project ‘’Strengthening women participation through leadership development, empowerment and livelihood for reducing the risk of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Yobe North was a deliberate action to curb the increasing cases of the GBV.
He said the intervention is a two-years consortium project being implemented by four national NGOs which comprises of; Women and Youth Empowerment Initiative, Maigoje Foundation, Hope Interactive and AFRYDEV in Damaturu, Gujba, Potiskum and Geidam local government areas.
He said the consortium is receiving funding support from UN-Women through the Women Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPWHF) and Spotlight Initiative, and it aim at promoting gender equitable social norms at community and individual levels to prevent and respond positively to violence against women and girls, and empower women and girls to participate and contribute to peace building, conflict prevention and recovery efforts.
Speaking, the chairman of Geidam local government Ali Kolo Kachalla, represented by the Community Development Officer Mohammed Kaumi appreciated AFRYDEV for organizing this kind of initiative. He said the role of women in our society cannot be overemphasized as they stand at the center of child upbringing, so it is the responsibility of every man to ensure they are supported and protected.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Miss Martha Sule applauded the enthusiasm of participants saying despite the recent attack in Geidam that displaced a large number of people, the women have demonstrated resilience and great will to contribute to peace efforts and recovery. She said the project will further provide Psycho-social and trauma healing support to survivors of GBV and also provide them 50 women with 4 months’ skills acquisition training and business start-up at the end of their training.
Rabi Ali Mustapha who spoke on behalf of the participants said, she learnt a lot and she hopes to continue supporting women and girls through awareness on GBV prevention and encouraged her fellow participants to break the culture of silence and speak up so as to end the menace.
