By Fortune Eromosele, Abuja 

Widows and Orphans Empowerment Organization (WEWE) with support from Irish Aid has united with Stakeholders in FCT to end Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. 

Widows and Orphans Empowerment Organization (WEWE) is a local faith-based NGO and with support from Irish Aid hosted a one-day roundtable meeting with key stakeholders in FCT to unite and jointly take action to end GBV in FCT.

The key stakeholders present that agreed to unite are Government: Nigeria Police Force (Gender Unit), the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Social Secretariat gender unit, The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, (FMWA), International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA). 

National Council of Women Society, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Children, and Youth Protection Foundation, African Women Lawyers Association, Child Protection Network (CPN) – FCT – National Council of Women’s Society, PrimeAge Development Initiative, Thrivebridge Initiative for Social Dev and TRAC-HUB.

The purpose of the meeting was to mark the 16 days of activism to end gender-based violence. The theme for this year 2022 is “UNITE! Activism to end violence against women and girls.”

Before now GBV Stakeholders have been working in Silos and as a result, the impact of the fight against GBV for women and girls has not translated to reducing GBV in FCT.

In line with the 2022 theme of the 16 days of activism which is to unite GBV Stakeholders in FCT, the Widows and Orphans Empowerment Organization (WEWE) with support from Irish Aid has taken a bold step to unite key stakeholders and together will plan to carry out a meeting with community women leaders and GBV survivors on how to identify cases of GBV in Abuja and how to properly report this incidence on November 29th, 2022. There would be hiking on December 03, 2022, at City Gate, on December 06th, 2022 there would be a sensitization meeting with the traditional rulers and on December 07, 2022, there will be a Webinar on GBV and a “Handover of the microphone to GBV survivors – a documentary.”

WEWE has over 12 years of experience working to fight Gender-Based Violence against Women and girls in Nigeria and has provided 10,450 GBV survivors with services. WEWE has facilitated the arrest and prosecution of documented 76 GBV offenders. WEWE has also facilitated the arrest and conviction of 17 GBV offenders documented and remanded in correctional homes.