A Non-Governmental Organization known as Otdel Health Heritage and Environmental Initiative (OHHEI) has organized leadership and collaboration on gender -based and women’s Inclusion in decision -making training for stakeholders in Delta State.
In his welcome address, the Project Director of OHHEI, Mr. Peter Olayinka, represented by the consultant to the organization, Juliet Obiajulu thanked participants for making out time to be part of the capacity building activity and urged them to make useful contributions that would help in advancing women inclusion in decision -making and in the fight against GBV.
According to her , the objectives of the training was to promote collective leadership and enhance participants’ capacity to influence policies,harmful social norms and drive sustainable social changes and women -focused organisations in addressing gender-based violence as well as promote positive gender norms and strengthen community and institutional systems towards preventing and responding to GBV.
She said that OHHEI was an indigenous non-profit making Civil Society Organization committed to creating sustainable and impactful changes in society with a focus on education, health, environment and social justice for gender equality.
OHHEI noted that even when women pursue leadership roles, they encounter systemic obstacles such as biased evaluations that men rarely face , adding that gender diversity tends to improve decision quality and innovations.
The organization also made presentations through one of its facilitators, Amb. Eris Jewo-Ibi who is the Chairperson of Association Against Child Sexual and Gender Based Volence,
on women inclusion in decision -making and identified cultural norms , domestic responsibilities, grassroots and political resistance as some of the barriers to women inclusion in decision -making.
Earlier in her presentation on Gender Equality and Understanding, the GBV Desk Officer in the Delta State Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Social Development, Mrs. Rosemary Okpuno said that women’s needs and perspectives can only be effectively taken into account if they were included in the process of decision -making.
The facilitator stated that cultural factors, acceptance of violence, unequal power dynamics, discrimination and stereotypes , lack of education and opportunities, poverty and low self esteem were the causes of gender-based violence.
The GBV desk Officer however, listed the consequences of violence and exclusion to include social consequences, physical and emotional harms , economic costs and reinforcement of harmful gender stereotypes and increases in inequality.
Also speaking on the legal framework to fight GBV in Delta State and Nigeria in general , another resource persons, Voke Angbagh from the Delta State Ministry of Justice clarified that the punishment for rape offences is life imprisonment and appealed to the State Chief Judge to create and designate a special court to try sexual offences .
Angbagh revealed that constant adjournments in cases of sexual offences had continued to be their major challenge, saying that with the special courts there would be accelerated justice delivery in such cases .
By Magnus Emuji
