Nkechi Ikpeazu, the first lady of Abia State, has said there is still a long way to go in ending gender-based violence in society.
Ikpeazu stated this during the celebration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the commencement of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence in Umuahia.
In a statement released in Umuahia, Ikpeazu, who is a champion of the EndGBV movement, called for greater cohesion among the various institutions and individuals working in the human rights space.
She said the theme of this year’s 16 days of activism, ‘Unite Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls, as well as the message from Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, are pointers to the fact that every person should commit to transformative actions that would end GBV.
The wife of the Abia State governor expressed support for public campaigns, and implementation of the laws to see that survivors get justice and the right to social support. The first lady also affirmed that there was a need to increase public funding for programmes that tackle GBV as well as to involve grassroots communities and civil society groups at every stage of decision-making.
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She revealed that part of the activities lined up for the 16 days of activism in Abia State include several radio talk-shows, a Twitter engagement, and a one-day interactive session with school-age kids about school related gender-based violence, as well as a road show.
The Abia first lady further revealed that the first Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Abia under construction would be completed and commissioned during the period, while she would also host a Night of Orange Colours where stakeholders in GBV response, Civil Society Organizations, the judicial system would converge to rededicate efforts to end GBV.
She thanked governor Okezie Ikpeazu for supporting several systems and institutional structures put in place to fight GBV, as well as commending the 7th House of Assembly for passing many laws that protect vulnerable persons. The laws include the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law, the Disability Law, the Child Rights law under review and the most recent law the Female Inheritance Law, passed a few days ago by the house.
She expressed her positive expectation that the governor would ascent to the Female Inheritance Law (H.A.B. 61: Abia State Female Persons Right of Inheritance of Property Law 2022) in a few days as part of the highpoints of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
