The Kaduna State Government says it reported about 500 cases of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) to the National GBV Dashboard, of which, five cases have been prosecuted as of the end of September.
Jamilu Ladan, the UNFPA State Sub-Implementing Partner Coordinator at the state’s Planning and Budget Commission (PBC), disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Sunday.
Ladan, who is the Programme Officer at PBC, explained that the feat was achieved with the support of other development partners and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working in the GBV space.
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He described the effort as one of the milestones recorded, explaining that the state was initially behind in terms of the number of cases reported to the national dashboard.
“But as of the end of September, Kaduna State is among the leading states in terms of reporting of GBV cases, amounting to about 500, of which five cases were prosecuted,” he said.
On his part, Dr Elvis Evborein, the Reproductive Health Analyst, UNFPA Kaduna, pointed out that GBV was a multisectoral deliverable, with CSOs, government agencies and other partners playing different roles.
Evborein said UNFPA supported the state government to create a GBV Technical Working Group where relevant stakeholders come together to ensure synergy and coordination in the GBV response.
The goal, according to him, is to have a common front and be able to achieve the desired goals.
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He said that the Fund had been supporting the technical working group to hold quarterly meetings to review developments in the sector, document results and find solutions to challenges.
“This partnership is mainly for prevention, such that people understand that beating women and psychosocial abuse are violations of women’s rights.
“This also applies to young girls, children and even men.
“We are working to address these negative social norms, correcting the myths and referring GBV survivors to available services.
“We are also supporting the referral pathway mechanisms available in all communities across the state,” she said.
