By; PATRICK TITUS, Uyo
Wife of the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Dr Martha Udom Emmanuel has bagged an award from the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), a non departmental public body by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the United Kindom.
The Award which is another feather to Mrs Emmanuel was in recognition for her passion and commitment towards ending Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in the state.
The State First Lady, whose work through her pet project, Family Empowerment and Youth Reorientation Path Initiative (FEYRep), a social intervention scheme which aims to “create a robust economic empowerment for families and orientation of the youths to eschew all forms of moral decadence,” has attracted attention globally and she has been honoured with the “Champions Of Sustainable Development Goals” award of the United Nations, conferred on her by the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres.
Presenting the award to her in her office in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital, Mrs. Florence Bassey, WFD Research Consultant applauded Mrs. Emmanuel for her passion in her campaign in the fight against all forms of violence against any gender.
She added that her work has left to the significant reduction in cases of sexual and gender based violence. Florence had earlier presented a policy brief, being a research outcome on overcoming the limitations to the implementation of the Akwa Ibom State Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law.
“For being a key stakeholder on the fight against SGBV and other gender issues and considering the good work you and your team are doing, on behalf of Westminster Foundation for Democracy, I present this Policy Document to you for the advancement of the effective implementation of the VAPP Law and other related gender laws in Akwa Ibom State,’’ she said.
According to the report, though Akwa Ibom was among the first 12 states in the country to adopt and gazetted the VAPP Law and being implemented in the state, about 5-14 cases of sexual and gender-based violence cases are being reported weekly adding that 564 cases of SGBV were received at referral centre in the state from 2016 to 2021.
She said 64 percent of the cases were children below the age of 17 years (including 10 boys) adding the study recommended more aggressive awareness campaigns at all levels on the VAPP Law, job creation opportunities for youth, food sufficiency programmes “because most of the perpetrators of these acts are idle men who do not have anything doing.’’
The findings showed that the culture of silence and concealment, stigmatisation, trivialisation, threats and intimidationand inadequate funding of necessary structures and mechanism for implementing anti-violenceagainst women and girls’ legislations are key constraints to the achievment of the significant success in the fight against violence against women and girls in the country.
“The VAPP Law and related laws are more effectively implemented in states where the First Ladies take a keen interest in and contribute to efforts aimed at eliminating violence against women and girls adding that the “Sexual Offenders Register is an effective deterrent to perpetratorsin states where such has been establishe, updated and publicised.’’
Accepting the award, the Akwa Ibom First Lady lauded the organisation for the honour done her saying her commitment to ending SGBV was based on her passion and that of Governor Udom Emmanuel saying it was responsible to why the governor did not waste time in signing the VAPP Act.
She disclosed that the Governor has also made funds available for the state management committee against SGBV while also disclosing that the VAPP Law has been simplified and made possible by the efforts of the management committee against SGBV.
One of the things we do is to meet with community leaders and stakeholders to sensitise them on the dangers of SGBV adding that the committee has established a desk for SGBV reporting in all the local government areas of the state.
The First Lady who also disclosed that a centre to house victims of SGBV was being built in the state, solicited for support from WFD to the state management committee against SGBV and expressed her determination to do everything possible to reduce the cases of SGBV in the state.
She dedicated the award to the victims of SGBV all over the world.
