Amid increasing reported cases of rape and child abuse, ActionAid Nigeria (AAN), a non-governmental organisation has called for the immediate implementation of the domesticated National Action Plan on peace and security of women/children across states in Nigeria.
Manager humanitarian and resilience unit of ActionAid Nigeria, David Habba made the call at the recent opening of a three-day mid-year review of the Action Plan document and training of stakeholders in Okene, Kogi State.
The three-day training was to equip the Action Plan committee members with the capacity to fast-track the implementation of the plan amid increased spate of crimes against women and children.
Habba said that the domestication of the National Action Plan by the states was in consonance with United Nations Resolution 1325 which addresses issues of peace and security of women and girls.
He stressed that the programme of domestication of the action plan was initiated in Kogi under the System and Structural Strengthening Approach Against Radicalisation to Violent Extremism (SARVE II) project in 2018 supported by Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF).
Halima Sadiq, the executive director, Participation Initiative For Behavioural Change and Development (PIBCID), ActionAid rights partners in Kogi noted that the second edition of the action plan was developed in 2017, after the expiration of the first in 2016.
“The second edition of the action plan was developed by 2017 and that gave birth to the domestication of the state action plan which we now have Kogi Action Plan for peace and security of women and children.
“ActionAid in partnership with PIBCID supported the ministry of women affairs and social development to come up with a framework in which women played a vital role in peace and security and also help in preventing violence extremism,” she said.
Joseph Ekele, acting permanent secretary in the women affairs ministry stated that the implementation of the plan would guarantee the needed protection for women and children in the society.
Ekele commended ActionAid Nigeria for being helpful to the ministry with resources and capacity building, pointing out that the ministry had been engaged in advocacy campaign on violence against women and children and vulnerable persons.
