The Women’s Voice and Leadership Nigeria (WVL-N) Project officially closed out in Cross River after five years of activities in the state to empower and support women in different thematic areas.
The Close-Out and Dissemination Ceremony which took place in Calabar International Conference Centre (CICC), on Tuesday, had the theme: “Five Years of Impact in Cross River.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the WVL-N Project which commenced in 2019 was a five-year project with funding from Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and implemented by ActionAid Nigeria in partnership with three Local Rights Organisations and 12 Community-Based groups.
NAN also reports that the project addressed areas such as Gender Based Violence (GBV), against women and girls; women’s Economic Justice and empowerment programmes and women’s political participation and leadership.
Speaking at the ceremony Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, Minister of Women Affairs said the Close-out was organised to take stock of key successes and outcomes on the implementation of the WVL-Nigeria Project in Cross River.
Represented by Mrs Jenny Akpan a Director at the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Kennedy-Ohanenye said the WVL-N project had increased women’s participation in leadership in the respective states driven by the project.
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She said the women have been able to utilise their inherent leadership and negotiation skills to address overwhelming issues of governance in their communities, states and the country in general which earlier defied previous efforts.
According to her, “We pray that these supports, particularly in the passage of the gender bills before the National Assembly would be resuscitated and help in the passage of the bills at the 10th National Assembly.
“I call on ActionAid Nigeria and her team that participated in the implementation of the WVL-N Project, to ensure the sustainability of the achievements and lessons learnt from the project with a view to expanding same to the remaining states of the country,” she said.
On his part, Mr Andrew Mamedu, Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria said the event not only signified years of dedicated effort but celebrated the remarkable strides made in advancing women and girls’ rights in the region.
Represented by Dr Comfort Oko, a Board Member of ActionAid Nigeria, Mamedu noted that their achievements in the last five years were a result of the support of Global Affairs Canada and three Local Women’s rights organisations.
He said they were also supported by 12 Community Based Organisations (CBO) through which they provided direct support to 731, 924 women and girls in 10 Local Government Areas.
“With a significant investment of over N250 million, our project has touched over 3 million people in Cross River this is a testament to the power of collaboration with our partners,” he stated.
Similarly, Dr Victoria Emah-Emah, Executive Director of Neighbourhood Care-Well Foundation said through the WVL-Nigeria Project with support from ActionAid, they had addressed over 348 cases of GBV against women in the last five years.
Emah-Emah asserted that following the WVL-N Project, many women in the state have emerged from the kitchen to the boardrooms in the state to drive change.
She however added that though ActionAid was bowing-out, they had developed structures that would help in the sustainability of achievements of the project.
Some of the groups that benefitted from the project and spoke to NAN, said the intervention has empowered them in fighting for social and economic justice, political leadership and participation and security of women. (NAN)