Nigeria — A group of young males in Nigeria pledged to work to end gender-based violence in the country, following a workshop organized by the UNFPA Country Office in collaboration with the youth NGO Education as a Vaccine. A Nigerian music celebrity has added his clout to the campaign.
The workshop, ‘Working with male youths in Nigeria to end violence against women’, formed part of activities to commemorate the 16 days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign, over 16 days from 25 November to 10 December.
Recognizing that a key approach to ending gender-based violence is the de-socialization of men and boys against violent behaviour in Nigeria, the workshop aimed to sensitize young in-school and out-of-school males on their roles as agents of change to end violence against women and girls. It led to the formation of the Youth Network for Ending Gender-Based Violence, which aims to be at the forefront of the partnership with men to end gender-based violence in Nigeria.
The face of the campaign is that of Most Incredible (MI), a Nigerian celebrity in the music industry who is popular among the youth. He will serve as a positive role model for Nigerian male youths in ending the culture of violence against women and girls. At the end of the workshop, the young men participating pledged to work to end gender-based violence in Nigeria.
UNFPA Nigeria, working on the platform of the Gender Theme Group (GTG) of the United Nations in Nigeria, supported activities to mark this year’s 16 days campaign. This focused on increasing the involvement of men to end gender-based violence, including sexual and physical violence (especially rape), sexual harassment, wife battery and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGMC). In particular, it focused on the involvement of young males to curb gender-based violence (GBV) in Nigeria.
The event provided an opportunity to renew the call for the Government of Nigeria to accelerate the enactment of gender-sensitive legislation, including the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill (VAPP) and the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill, both receiving attention in the National House of Assembly. It also saw the topic feature in radio and television talk shows, plus an interactive session with law enforcement agents on GBV.
