UNESCO Regional office in Nigeria has called on the federal government to strengthen the nation’s educational institutions to curb various harmful practices against women and girls in the country.
The Officer in Charge of UNESCO in Abuja, Mr Lamine Sow, gave the advice at a one day Spotlight initiative to develop an education package for schools in Nigeria.
Mr Sow explained that the project was being implemented in 8 African Countries and would be achieved on 6 complementing pillars, such as Policy, Institution strengthening, prevention and quality data among others.
According to him the project covered the 6 geo-political zones in Nigeria and implemented in Adamawa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Lagos, Sokoto as well as the Federal Capital Territory.
” The school remains a strong point of contact to implement this action plan, and that was why today we are building the capacity of the teachers and school owners to take responsibility”
In his presentation, National President of the Non Governmental Association for Literacy Support Services NOGALSS, Mr Noah Emmanuel said the experiences of sexual abuse and gender violence undermined the health, dignity and security of it’s victims, especially where it remained shrouded ina culture of silence.
” We are partnering other Organizations to visit schools, we want to sensitize school teachers, administrators, puppils and even citizens on how to identify abuses, avoid it and also report to the appropriate authorities”
” At the end of this one day Spotlight initiative, we would develop an education framework and deliver to the schools to strengthen the capacity of the school owners, to begin to take responsibility in educating others. All we want to achieve is a country where women and girls can work freely with intimidation or any form of harassment” he said.
In their submissions, the representative from the Gender department of the Federal Ministry of Health, Mr Nwankwo Steven and the United Nations Women office representative Ms Tosin Akigbo pledged their commitment to be at the frontline of the Advocacy .
He said if the country must eliminate all forms of gender violence against women and girls by 2030 in line with the Sustenable Development Goals, all hands must be on deck coupled with a multifaceted approach.
They noted that Nigeria ranked 118 out of the 134 countries on Gender equality index, stressed the need to carry out aggressive sensitization to end the menace.
The event was organized by UNESCO in partnership with NOGALSS brought together traditional leaders, School Administrators, International partners, CSOs and Government Agencies.
