A coalition of women groups in Nasarawa State has called for an increased gender-responsive budgetary allocation to address issues of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) against women and girls in the state.
The coalition, comprised of members of the National Working Group on the implementation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) law, anchored by the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), with support from the African Women Development Fund (AWDF).
Dorcas Iorkusa, Executive Director of the Gender and Community Empowerment Initiative (GECOME), made the call at a press conference by the women’s groups on Wednesday in Lafia.
Iorkusa was represented at the occasion by the Nasarawa State Chairperson, League of Women Voters of Nigeria, Mrs Veronica Ogbole.
The Executive Director of GECOME noted that it had become imperative for the government to give adequate attention to the challenges facing women and girls regularly.
She urged the Nasarawa State House of Assembly to prioritizprioritizerest of women and girls in the 2025 appropriation bill currently before them.
“If the budget is increased, we can enhance protective services, ensuring that survivors of gender-based violence have access to justice, legal support, and safe spaces,” she said.
Lorkusa pointed out that SGBV undermines both the social and economic development of an individual and negatively affects the individual’s capacity to realize her or his rights and potential.
She said, “Gender Responsive budgeting is a process that entails incorporating a gender perspective at various stages.
“planning policy, program formulation, assessment of needs of target groups, allocation of resources, implementation, impact assessment, and prioritization of resources.
“A gender-responsive budgeting framework determines the human, financial, material, and technical resources needed for policy implementation.
“It is designed to justify resource mobilization and to leverage financial and technical resources from multiple stakeholders.
“Nigeria has demonstrated commitment to addressing SGBV with the passage in 2015 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act into law.
“The passage of the VAPP Act was monumental in providing the first comprehensive legislative framework for the prevention of all forms of violence against vulnerable persons, especially women and girls.
“However, poor implementation mechanisms, lack of coordination, poor enforcement capacity, and limited resources, among other factors, undermined the efficacy of the VAPP law as an instrument for addressing SGBV,” she added.
Iorkusa said that the data available estimated 7, 349 cases of SGBV in Nigeria from January 2020-July 2022.
“We stand at a critical juncture in our commitment to and empower the women and girls of Nasarawa State. This is a fundamental step in upholding human rights in our community.
“WARDC and AWDF, therefore, call on the Nasarawa State government and all stakeholders to join the struggle against SGBV, and advocate for increased gender responsive budget to end violence against women and girls in the state,” Iorkusa said. (www.krestnews.com).