In furtherance of our vision and goal of creating a strong system for young people development, we at Centre for Young People Development and Poverty Alleviation Initiative recently garnered experience and capacity to help us contribute to the fight against Sexual and Gender Based Violence in our society.
As a Non-governmental Organization, we’re driven beyond passion to see a society where everyone feels a sense of security as nothing can be achieved in chaos or fear. Our goal is to raise young men and women who become drivers of positive change and, that can only happen when there’s a safe society for all.
With this focus in mind, we recently participated in a transformative 3-day training on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) held in Calabar.
The training organized by Girls Power Initiative (GPI), a reputable organization committed to empowering young girls and women afforded us the opportunity to learn the ropes of SGBV management and deepen our knowledge and understanding of GBV.
The training was part of the knowledge transfer activities of the SCALE PROJECT (Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement), a USAID-funded five years initiative implemented by Palladium in partnership with indigenous NGOs aims to improve public accountability, transparency, and sustainable service delivery in Nigeria.
Alongside other NGOs, we excitedly built our capacity in different areas of SGBV like case management, SOPs, Referrals and Linkages for Community Based Organizations in Cross River and Akwa Ibom State.
Also, the training afforded us the time to learn the intricacies of working with vulnerable individuals and groups as well as the necessary skills to provide adequate support to survivors of SGBV/CEFM (Child, Early, and Forced Marriage) from a trauma-informed and victim-centered perspective.
Since our primary focus is on education and skill acquisition, we recognized the importance of contributing to the cause to end GBV (Gender-Based Violence) by keying into this project while broadening our scope of work.
As an NGO that’s focused on the development of mentally equipped young people, nothing could be better than getting equipped for the task ahead and partnering with sister NGOs to ensure our Vision and mission of building a society that prioritizes the well-being and empowerment of young people is achieved.
OUR ACTION PLAN GOING FORWARD
From the capacity building workshop, we understood the critical role economic factors play in perpetuating SGBV, as well as the economically advantaged individuals engaged in the sexual exploitation of those disadvantaged.
Going forward, we intend to step down this knowledge to young people within the state and walk them through possible entrepreneurial potential latent in them and those abounding within their ecosystem. Our commitment is reinforced at exploring more economic empowerment opportunities for women and girls as a means to curb SGBV amongst the low income earners.
On behalf of our team, we appreciate Girl Power Initiative for the opportunity granted us to equip ourselves for the tasks ahead.
We believe through this collaboration, our commitment to the cause of young people development and empowerment will be strengthened, as we look forward to more learning and active engagement with the wider community to help us become a driving force in the movement to end SGBV.
