Akamkpa, one of the local government areas in Cross River State where the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative is being implemented, has received the Violence Against Children (VAC), Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Gender Based Violence (GBV) sensitization campaign with excitement, this is according to Williams Okoi Arikpo, representative of Spotlight Initiative.
Arikpo, who spoke with our correspondent at the end of a 2-day Community Dialogue and Rally in Akamkpa, said Spotlight Initiative was happy to be part of the campaign to end violence against children, women and girls, noting that the local government area has a very high rate of Sexual and Gender Based Violence.
Giving details of the two days event, Arikpo said “The first day we had a dialogue with key stakeholders. We had the representative of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN),
community members, the members of the Child Protection Network, we had traditional rulers, we had religious leaders, women leaders, youth leaders. We had adolescents, vigilantes and market women at this very important dialogue where we asked to know why people are not speaking up.
“The session was very engaging and interactive as the people spoke freely. The participants were very happy. They gave their views, shared experiences, opinions and recommendations about what can be done to end violence against children, violence against women and gender based violence. They also went further to make recommendations about the things that should be done to help people speak up because the culture of silence is a major problem.
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“As we know Akamkpa has a very high rate of violence against children. The problem is that people do not speak up.
There’s been lot of incidences of violence against children over time in Akamkpa and it is important that this kind of awareness and advocacy and dialogue is carried out. The people in Akamkpa are so willing to take ownership of the process. They are inviting us to schools. In fact, we heard children telling us to come to their schools. Pastors are asking us to come to their churches. Even the market women are not left out. They are inviting us to their markets. The traditional rulers are also inviting us to come to their traditional rulers council meeting. Everybody wants us to come to their natural groups and share these experiences and it was exciting.
“Some had already started creating awareness on their own from past meetings. I think it’s quite encouraging to have that dialogue and to see what the people are doing in Akamkpa.
“On the second day was the rally and we hit the streets of Akamkpa – major roads, minor roads, market places. The campaign was massive. The people were so eager to hear, to learn and know what we were doing. Participants at the rally were available to give clarification to sensitize people. We had placards, stickers, banners, fliers and materials that we shared to the people. It was beautiful and colourful, as well as educative.
“The Christian Association of Nigeria has promised to mobilize its members for us to do sensitization. We had a community leader in Awi who said he wants us to specially do a rally in Awi because of the high prevalence of violence against children. The people are eager.”