By Angela Atabo
Abuja – Search for Common Ground ,a Civil Society Organisation(CSO) on Tuesday in Gombe advocated for women inclusion in peace building since they are the most affected by crisis.
Dr Hassan Masari,consultant , United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 made the call at the Training on the Role of Media in Implimenting National Plan on UNSCR 1325 for Electronic Media Journalists in Northern Nigeria .
Masari said that there was need to promote women engagement in peace and security in Northern Nigeria due to the various crisis that had affected the region in recent times.
This,he said ,necesitated the establishment of the Women Peace and Security (WPS) funded by the European Union and implemented by the UN women in collaboration with UNICEF and Federal Ministry of Women Affairs.
“Women have been victims of armed conflicts in different parts of the world,often having fewer or no resources to protect themselves and thier children ,they constitute majority of internally displaced population.
“Women and girls are also victims of gender-based violence and abuse.
“While women constitute the majority of victims in conflict situations,they largely remain unrecognised and excluded from formal peace processes and negotiations .
“In addition to lacking access to justice to justice when faced with human rights abuses ,women also face hurdles when it comes to participating in reforming laws and policies to address these challenges.”
Masari urged the three tiers of government and traditional rulers to make delibrate effort to include women in leadership in order to advance gender equality and improve protection for women.
He said there was need for the media to also play its role as an amplifier and the voiceless to advocate for the implimemtation of the national plan on UNSCR 1325.
He said that ths would go a long way to strengthen women’s role in confict prevention and peace building .
Mrs Tamwakat Golit ,Project Manager,Women Peace and Security Search for Common Ground Nigeria said the training was aimed at equiping journalists to play thier role essfctively to promote women engagement.
Golit said that this was because women as the major victims of crisis were seldom called to air thier opinions when deciding thier case.
She added that the training was also a call to partner with the media to learn to view women issues through the lence of a women and to be gender-sensitive in thier raportage.
She said this was because in Nigeria ,the system had encouraged a patriachal way of doing things for long adding that the narratives needed to be changed .
She urged Nigerians especially the media and the governments to aways view things and dormulate policies that will delibrately promote women and enhanceequality
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