By Olukayode Michael, Maiduguri
The nation has been
advised to treat gender issues with utmost care in order not to compound the
already existing crises in the country.
The CLEEN Foundation gave this advice on Friday in Maiduguri, lamenting that
the nation is already bedeviled with ethno-religious and socio-cultural crises
that are threatening to push her to the precipice, and any additional crisis
may spell doom.
The Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation, Dr. Benson Olugbuo, who was
represented by the Programme Director of the Foundation, Ruth Olofin,
speaking at the opening of a three-day capacity building workshop for
female police officers on gender awareness in conflict and emergency,
said: “The police in a conflict-context require a deeper understanding of
the dynamics and nuances of such environment and the right skills in addressing
gender issues.”
Olugbuo, said the training was organized to draw strengths from the experiences
of female police officers and the role that security actors such as the Police
can play in preventing sexual and gender based violence, improve their
awareness as well as facilitate entry points for women and girls in Borno to be
part of peace-building and resilience processes.
He said: “The training will be contextually delivered drawing experiences from
prevailing practices on the field.
“It is expected that trained personnel will be equipped with the rights
skillset to deliver on their mandate and are better able to provide safer
spaces for women and girls to participate fully in the development of their
communities.”
Olugbuo said: “This training workshop and the project intervention by CLEEN is
coming at a crucial time in our country in view of the multiplicity of national
and international reports of gender rights violations in conflict and emergency
situations and the plethora of policy frameworks and laws for the prevention of
gender discrimination and violence in the country.
“Particularly in the North-East, the call for enhanced gender awareness by the
police in conflict situations also resonates globally with international
instruments in place and gender based violence increasingly featuring on international
development agenda.”
He said it is hoped that the workshop would build the capacity of the police
women and provide greater protection for vulnerable members of the community,
ensuring reduction to the barest minimum of sexual and gender based violence in
Borno State post training.
Also speaking at the workshop, the Borno State Police Commissioner, Mohammed
Aliyu, who was represented by an Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of
Metropolitan Command, Hassan Musa asked the attendees to put whatever they are
thought into use.
He said: “We should use it to improve our job, our society and the
country.”
At the workshop are 60 policewomen selected from across police stations in
Borno State.