Project Alert Trains 200 Influencers, Sets Up Sgbv Surveillance Teams In Ebonyi Communities.
Project Alert on Violence Against Women, a Civil Society Organisation, has built the capacity of 200 Community men and women to combat sexual and gender based violence in Ebonyi State.
The programme was in support of the Spotlight Initiative, a global project funded by the European Union - United Nations (EU - UN)
The 2-day training programme Kicked off Tuesday in Uburu, the headquarters of Ohaozara Local Government area of Ebonyi State.
It was targeted at 100 participants each from two pilot local government areas of the State, Ohaozara and Onicha.
The Program Officer, Project Alert, Mrs Nsini Udonta, noted that the essence of the event was to educate participants on the various dimensions of Gender based violence and equip them with requisite knowledge and information to enable them assist victims and survivors find help.
She explained that her Organisation decided to target Community-based Organisations and associations because of their multiplier effects.
Udonta further explained: "Our program is to build the capacity of Community groups and associations to be able to respond to issues of SGBV in their communities and make appropriate referrals for the victims.
"The reason we use Community Organisations and associations is that after training their executives, they will go back and train their other members.
"That way, the knowledge and awareness will cascade down the entire Community, thereby achieving greater results.
"Moreover we have set up a volunteer surveillance group from among the participants to serve as our eyes in the rural communities.
"Their primary job is to create sensitization in the communities:
They will be going to Churches, markets and such other public gatherings to create awareness on SGBV and the available services for survivors."
Speaking to newsmen, one of the resource persons at the event, Reverend Flora Egwu, maintained that gender-based violence affects both men and women but emphasized that women were often the worst hit due to their socio - cultural position in society.
Egwu who is the Deputy Coordinator, Gender Based Violence Taskforce in the State, and the Executive Director of Mother Healthcare and Development Forum, admonished participants to take awareness of the State and national laws against SGBV to their various communities.
Some of the participants who spoke to our correspondent, including Kingsley Nwanja and Nnenna Enyi, described the training as both fantastic and rewarding.
They pledged to put in their best in promoting the awareness towards ensuring that GBV was completely stopped in their communities.
Project Alert, a Lagos-based CSO, about 2 weeks earlier, had carried out a State level stakeholders workshop in Abakaliki, where it indicated its plans to set up community surveillance team in some rural communities in the State.