ActionAid Nigeria says it reached 3 million people
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on ThisDay
ActionAid Nigeria says its programme against gender-based violence reached about three million people in Nigeria. Run with support from the Ford Foundation, the project notably promoted community mobilisation and contributed to the abandonment of female genital mutilation in some communities in Rivers State, according to ActionAid Nigeria.
ActionAid Nigeria says its gender-based violence (GBV) prevention project reached about three million people, including men and women, during its interventions in several Nigerian states. The organisation presented the results at the closing forum of the Multi-Stakeholder Action for the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence (MAP-GBV) project, held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, according to ThisDay.
The programme, supported by the Ford Foundation, notably carried out community mobilisation, advocacy and awareness-raising activities in Anambra, Osun and Rivers states. Funmi Olukeye, ActionAid Nigeria’s director of human resources and culture, said the initiatives had contributed to the abandonment of female genital mutilation in some communities in Rivers and to changes in attitudes over the past two years.
The project also mobilised traditional leaders, religious leaders, lawyers and parliamentarians. Evelyn Membere Asimiea, coordinator of Rivers’ multi-party committee for the prevention of gender-based violence, said the initiative had strengthened knowledge of the 2020 Rivers State law prohibiting violence against persons.
ActionAid Nigeria is now calling for the structures put in place to be integrated into the systems of government and traditional authorities in order to maintain prevention efforts beyond the project, according to ThisDay. The Rivers committee initiative began in November 2024.
