…commends effort of UN, EU through Spotlight Initiative<\/p>\n
Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade
\nAgba, says that the Nigerian government is committed to the global
\neffort at decreasing violence against women and girls by intensifying
\ncollaboration with international partners in the fight against the
\nscourge.<\/p>\n
Agba restated the commitment on Friday in a welcome address he delivered
\nat the first bi-annual meeting of the National Steering Committee for
\nthe Spotlight Initiative in 2020 held at the United Nations’ auditorium
\nin Abuja.<\/p>\n
The Spotlight Initiative specifically backs a national action to end
\nviolence against women and girls amid the COVID-19 pandemic while the
\nInitiative’s National Steering Committee provides overall strategic
\npolicy and political direction on the implementation of the spotlight
\nprogramme.<\/p>\n
The Committee is also responsible for improving coordination and
\naccountability in the three-way partnership among the United Nations
\n(UN), the European Union (EU) and the Government of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Agba said, “Decreasing violence against women and girls requires global
\nsolidarity, a multi-pronged approach, and sustained engagement with
\nmultiple stakeholders,” adding “I, therefore, wish to restate the
\ngovernment of Nigeria’s commitment to all agreed international
\nobligations in this regard.”<\/p>\n
The minister recalled the cases of the 22-year old microbiology student
\nat the University of Benin who was on May 28, this year, reported to
\nhave been raped, brutally assaulted and later died; and, the 18-year old
\nstudent of the Federal College of Animal and Production Technology,
\nIbadan, Barakat Bello, who was on June 1, this year, also reportedly
\nraped to death in her home after returning from Qur’anic lessons.<\/p>\n
According to him, “incidences such as these make it imperative for all
\nstakeholders to do everything possible to ensure that women and girls in
\nNigeria have the right to live in dignity and free from violence.”<\/p>\n
Agba said that the European Union\/United Nations Joint Spotlight
\nInitiative, therefore, represented a veritable tool for such
\npartnership.<\/p>\n
“Let me at this point, on behalf of the Government of Nigeria, express
\nour Country’s gratitude to the European Union (EU) and the United
\nNations (UN) for their joint efforts at eliminating all forms of
\nviolence against women and girls, as well as other initiatives that are
\ntargeted at achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment, in line
\nwith the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” he stated.<\/p>\n
The minister further said that the Spotlight Initiative aligned with
\nNigeria’s national priorities as encapsulated in the Economic Recovery
\nand Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020, whose successor plan, the Nigerian
\nNational Development Plan had, as an important pillar, ensuring that
\nwomen issues were very well captured.<\/p>\n
Agba declared that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had,
\nin the last five years, worked hard to address some of the issues
\nconfronting the nation in the area of violence against women and girls.<\/p>\n
He assured Nigerians and other stakeholders that the government intended
\nto build on the gains of the past in order to conclude the work of
\nchanging, in a fundamental way, all issues relating to violence against
\nwomen and girls.<\/p>\n
Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Dame Pauline Tallen,
\nacknowledged the support that Nigeria had received from the Spotlight
\nInitiative and urged all hands to be on deck in order to achieve a
\ndesirable outcome.<\/p>\n
EU Ambassador to Nigeria and Head of Delegation, Mr. Karlsen Ketil, said
\nthe committee identified the need for more encouragement at state level
\nand for scaling up high-level actions.<\/p>\n
Ketil said that the current national outcry over different rape cases
\nprovided momentum for immediate action and called for a nationwide
\nvirtual town hall meeting to discuss the issue with members of the
\npublic on the way forward.<\/p>\n
“We look forward to continuing these conversations to help transform the
\nSpotlight Initiative into a concrete and result-oriented flagship
\nprogramme”, he stated.<\/p>\n
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator of the National Steering
\nCommittee meeting for the Spotlight Initiative, Mr. Edward Kallon, said
\n“with the Spotlight Initiative, we are in a position to do more than
\njust connecting victims\u00a0 with services and hoping for the best,” adding
\nthat, “although, immediate protection of survivors of Gender-Based
\nViolence (GBV) is essential, so too is addressing the systemic
\nchallenges that perpetuate violence, gender inequality and injustice.”<\/p>\n
Coordinator of Spotlight Initiative, Hadiza Aminu Dorayi, stressed the
\nneed for all stakeholders to stay actively engaged and “work together to
\nsuccessfully implement the Spotlight Initiative to eliminate all forms
\nof violence against women and girls by 2030 in line with the Sustainable
\nDevelopment Goals (SDGs).”<\/p>\n
…commends effort of UN, EU through Spotlight Initiative Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, says that the Nigerian government is committed to the global…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n