By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
The Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF) on Wednesday, decorated the Kaduna State Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development, Hajia Hafsat Mohammad Baba, as Champion Against Gender- Based Violence in the state.
The honour was in recognition of her uncommon commitment towards elimination of the gender based violence, especially against women and girls.
Hajia Hafsat Baba, who was highly elated of the honour, commended the AMDF for appreciating and recognizing her, saying that the gesture would spur her in the avowed commitment to championing against
the menace of gender based violence in the State.
“The success story of the Ministry on gender based violence may not be unconnected to domestication of the Voilence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law in the state which is a milestone.
“The essence of the Law is actually to prosecute and ensure that Justice is done to those people that have been violated and since that law was signed, we gotten a version of simplified VAPP Law for people to really understand what it is all about” she said
It was against this background, She noted, the AMDF picked interest in enlightening the communities to understand there’s such a Law in the state by going to them to form community volunteers who would then sensitize their people on referral pathways as well as stringent punishments to violators.
“It is therefore gratifying to note, the success story of the Rise Up Project being implemented by AMDF in 12 communities of the 2 LGAs which is
another milestone for the government.
“I hope they will continue to expand, continue to collaborate, so that the 23 LGAs of Kaduna State will continue to understand the importance and benefits of this Law
Also acknowledging what she called, the invaluable contributions of NGOs in the State, the Commissioner, however frowned at some which depend on government.
“I wondered why NGOs should write letters to government asking for support that they want to do an activity. No, an NGO should source for funding and support efforts and activities of government so that collectively we can achieve together.
“I sincerely thank the AMDF because you source for your funding, you painstakingly write your proposal, you have sleepless nights, and I know what it means to write proposal.
“I appreciate the AMDF, because you source for fundings outside government coffers and for also extending the services to the most vulnerable in the society, which must be emulated”, she reiterated
Speaking before the decoration, the Project Manager and Rise UP Fellow, Mr. Benjamin Maigari, said AMDF has been collaborating with the Ministry over the years, ” we’ve been working with the commissioner on the project for the past 2 years and we’ve seen a lot of development, since she assumed office as commissioner”.
Mr. Maigari noted that “upon her assumption of office, things have improved and changed , she has set standards that none of her predecessors had and so we felt that we need to appreciate her, so that, she can keep the tempo and maintain that standard, .
The Rise Up Project Manager gave example of women empowerment and the social protection register and that a lot of innovations have come during her administration which he said, have spurred women in the State to achieve greater heights.
While giving an insight into the project being carried out in six communities each of Kajuru and Kaduna North LGAs respectively, Mr. Maigari said they were able to build capacity around the gender policy and VAPP in the state, adding that ” Kabala Doki has distinguished itself,” out of the others, via a community resolution strategy in dealing with offenders of sexual violence among others.
The Project titled: Advocating for the Prevention of Gender Based Violence is being implemented by AMDF with support from Rise Up, a project of Public Health Institute, John Hopkins University, USA.
