By Fortune Eromosele, Abuja

A foremost crisis response organization, Neem Foundation, has identified discrimination and disempowerment of women and girls as factors that threaten democracy in Nigeria and the world.

Executive Director, Neem Foundation, Dr Fatima Akilu, stated this during the stakeholders’ forum to review access and response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in Northwest Nigeria, held in Abuja.

According to her, women and girls risk violence when carrying out essential daily activities – within their homes or while going to their places of work, school, taking public transport, and collecting water or firewood.

“It occurs in all countries, contexts and settings, and Nigeria is no exception. Here, as with everywhere else in the world, S/GBV remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations. Ending violence against women is not about demanding exceptional treatment, it is simply about letting women live in dignity.

“The discrimination and disempowerment of women and girls threatens democracy, peace and security and is an obstacle to sustainable development. It weakens social cohesion, harmony, and justice and puts a heavy burden on national economies,” she stated.

Akilu called on all stakeholders in taking action to ensure ‘zero tolerance,’ on violence against women and girls.

She said, “We hope to see more substantial prevention efforts because the best way to stop violence is for it not to happen in the first place. Multi-sectoral prevention is the new frontier that stakeholders must conquer. Prevention is not just about awareness-raising campaigns; a whole ecosystem of policies must be in place, and connections must be made with other gender equality policies to promote comprehensive and holistic prevention and response. Violence against women does not happen in a vacuum.

“We count on sensitisation/education programmes that teach human rights, equality and mutual respect. We need increasing numbers of women in politics, law enforcement, and peacebuilding architectures. We need adequate social protection, equal economic opportunities and decent jobs for women.

“On this note, I call on all stakeholders present here today not to stop at words. We all must affirm a culture of zero tolerance for violence against women. At the centre of our discussions must be only one consideration – progress for women and girls everywhere.”

In the same vein, Honorable Commissioner, Ministry for Women and Children Affairs, Sokoto State, Hajiya Kulu Abdullahi Sifawa, said: “Thanks to the efforts of Development partners like Neem Foundation that have augmented the efforts of the State Government through collaborations with the Sokoto State Ministry for Women and Children Affairs, and other key stakeholders in the state.

“We have enjoyed the capacity building of state and non-state actors to respond to gender-based violence, especially in the delivery of quality mental health and psychosocial support services.  We are equally grateful to this project for strengthening the already existing GBV platform (The Sokoto State GBV/CP Response Team) to continue meeting its established mandate.”