By Hassana Yakubu
Kaduna – Kaduna State Government on Friday commenced a five-day training for social welfare officers from the 23 local government areas on appropriate measures to adopt in tackling rising cases of gender based violence and other abuses against vulnerable people in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was organised by Ministry of Human Services and Social Development in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund.
Hajiya Umma Ahmed, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, said the aim was to have a pool of professionals and support services to respond to all issues of gender violence at the grassroots.
She explained that by building the capacity of stakeholders, the state hoped to prevent gender based violence and bring it to zero level.
The permanent secretary said stakeholders including security personnel, CSOs, NGOs Immigration officers, community and religious leaders taking part in the programme were expected to deploy the knowledge learnt in sensitising people at the grassroots on the menace.
“I expect that at the end of the day the partispant will be fully equipped and will have a functional GDV actors in place that will prevent and mitigates the gender based violence in the society,” she added.
She therefore called on the participants to step dowm the knowledge gained to help communities curtail the social vices.
The state Chairperson, International Federation of Female Lawyers (FIDA), Hajiya Zainab Atoba said the organization would continue to offer legal services to victims of gender violence and other abuses in the state.
Atoba urged the participants to take the programme very seriously, “because gender based violence is becoming endemic in the society, happening every day.”
She said the participants should pass the information to their communities and also train others on the importance of taking good care of their children and advising them on who they should relate with so as to curb the incidences of violence.
She also called on parents to take good care of their children, educate them on the issue and monitor their movements.
Rilwan Abdullahi, National President. Association of People Living with Disabilities, commended the ministry for organizing the programme in view of the high level of gender based violence in the society.
Abdullahi said the programme would enable the participants to improve their skills in handling the situation, especially among people with disabilities.
“We are here to have the skills of handling the issue properly. I am happy that whatever the ministry is doing, persons with disabilities are not left behind,” he said.
(NAN)