The Sokoto state Ministry for Women and Children Affairs, supported by the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative Project, has trained 155 survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) on different livelihood skills.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Spotlight Initiative Project is a global, multi-year partnership between the EU and the UN, to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030.
The Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Hajia Kulu Nuhu, stated this during the distribution of N15,500 to each beneficiary, as transport fares for the three-month training programme on Thursday, in Bodinga.
Nuhu said that the Ministry provided training tools in the targeted Local Government Areas, comprising Binji, Bodinga, Tangaza and Sokoto North.
She said that the survivors were trained on sewing, knitting, cosmetology, cake making and beverages, amongst others, with the aim of empowering them to embark on small scale businesses for self-reliance.
The Acting Permanent Secretary, who was represented by an Assistant Director in the Ministry, Mr Nura Kware, said UNICEF provided transport fares for the beneficiaries for the three-month duration of the skill acquisition programme. which was sponsored by the ministry.
Some beneficiaries, A’ishatu Garba, Zulaihatu Nuruddeen and Shamsiyya Idris, commended the organisers for the training and assured them of utilising the skills on businesses in their respective localities.
They expressed optimism that the support would improve their lives along with immediate family members, in recognition of the trauma they underwent after they were violated.
Mrs Cecelia Eseme, member of Civil Society Reference group, part of the GBV response committee, decried the increasing incidents of GBV in our society which, she described, as a crime against humanity that must be collectively tackled.
Eseme lauded the achievements recorded by survivors in their engagements towards productive lives and urged community members to patronise the products produced by the survivors as ways to further encourage them.
She further appealed to the government to consider providing shelter and support to care givers who are overseeing GBV survivors in the state. (NAN)