Groups in Miri and Wuntin Dada communities of Bauchi Local Government area in Bauchi State have on Thursday staged a rally to end Gender Based Violence (GBV) against women and girls in communities.
Mrs Hashiya Musa, leader of the women’s group , said at the rally in Miri and Wuntin Dada communities that the rally was aimed to create awareness against gender-based violence and measures to overcome this social deviation.
According to her, the goal of this rally was not just to raise awareness among the communities about gender-based violence,
But also to encourage the community to work together and take a stance against such violence.
“Awareness is the first step for effective action to eliminate all gender-based violence, communities must engage with each other and stand together in taking action,” Musa said.
The woman leader appreciated Aid Connect for Development (AidConnect) Actionaid and Women Voice and leadership for supporting the rally and making it a success.
Our correspondent reports that at the end of the rally there was an interaction program in the Miri community to engage the participants.
That gave people a platform to talk about their personal experience, share ideas and provide support in a community setting.
The Executive Director, AidConnect, Mrs Abigail Hardo, encouraged the communities to sustain awareness creation towards ending sexual and gender based violence in the society.
She said the rally was supported to mark the close out of a 5 years project on GBV in the communities funded by ActionAid.
” We have enlightened residents of these communities and adjoining communities on the effect of GBV and the need for them not to allow their wards to hawk in odd hours as a retentive measure”.
Hardo noted that AidConnect had to include traditional leaders, men, women and young girls in its campaign towards ending SGBV.
” Today we are glad to say that the cases of GBV has greatly reduced in these communities and we are glad we have built the capacity of community structures to sustain the campaign “.She said
Some Community leaders also speaking during the interaction session were Uba Mohammad and Musa Abubakar who appreciated the role played by Aidconnect in creating awareness on the effect of SGBV in their communities.
Our correspondent also reports that the walking rally took them through the Miri and Wuntin Dada markets in the communities with the men leading, urging residents to focus on preventing the occurrence of GBV.
