Ebonyi Women’s Rights Groups Seek Stronger Leadership, End to Gender-Based Violence

Leaders of women’s rights organisations in Ebonyi State have called for sustained leadership training and capacity building to strengthen advocacy for gender equality, social justice and an end to gender-based violence.

The women made the call during a one-day capacity-building training for leaders of women’s rights organisations in Abakaliki, organised by the Women Information Network (WINET) in collaboration with the Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement.

One of the participants, Dr Helen Kalu, Senior Legal and Programme Officer, Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL), said continuous training through seminars, workshops and sensitisation programmes was essential to equipping women with new knowledge and reinforcing existing skills for effective advocacy.

Kalu appealed to men, people in leadership positions and women themselves to stop viewing feminists as people seeking to take over power, describing them instead as agents of change advocating fairness and an environment where everyone could thrive.

Another participant, the Executive Director of Daughters of Virtue and Empowerment Initiative (DOVENET), Dr Ugo Nnachi, described the training as an important tool in the struggle for women’s liberation, gender parity, inclusive governance and the prevention of gender-based violence.

Earlier, the Executive Director of WINET, Mrs Miriam Menkiti, thanked the Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement for supporting the project, titled “Strengthening Women’s Rights Organisations in Nigeria for Gender-Based Violence Prevention.”

Menkiti said the project was being implemented in the five South-East states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo under the Strengthening Women’s Movements in Nigeria (SWMN) initiative.

She said the goal was to build and sustain an inclusive, well-coordinated and impactful women’s movement capable of effectively advocating gender equality, social justice, and the economic and political empowerment of women.

According to her, the training was designed to strengthen the capacity of women’s rights organisations in Ebonyi State in movement building and gender-based violence prevention, while equipping participants with knowledge of feminist and intergenerational leadership.

Menkiti also thanked the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Felicia Nwankpuma, and the Commissioner for Grants and Donor Agencies, Mr Solomon Azi, for their support.

She presented the commissioners with a copy of A Reader on Feminist Thinking and Practice in Nigeria, compiled and edited by Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi and Fabia Ogunmekan.

Declaring the training open, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, represented by the Director of Administration, Mr Charles Nwali, commended WINET for selecting Ebonyi as one of the beneficiary states.

He pledged the ministry’s continued support for the organisation’s activities and urged participants to take the training seriously and share the knowledge acquired with members of their respective organisations.

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Grants and Donor Agencies, Mr Solomon Azi, commended WINET for its advocacy for women’s rights.

Azi, however, urged women to balance their pursuit of gender equality with their responsibilities as mothers and custodians of family values.

The training featured five sessions covering “Understanding Women’s Movements in Nigeria” and “Intergenerational Leadership,” facilitated by Menkiti.

Other sessions included “Feminist Leadership for the 21st Century,” delivered by WINET’s Programme Manager, Mrs Ijeoma Obinna-Onwuka; and “Values of Feminism” and “Core Leadership Skills,” facilitated by WINET’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer and Gender Desk Officer, Mrs Chinelo Dim.

About 25 women’s rights organisations in Ebonyi State participated in the training.