A faith-based, not-for-profit organisation in Ebonyi State, Anglican Diocese of Abakaliki Health and Community Development Initiative, has been commended for introducing psychosocial training for priests and church clubs as a strategy in the fight against gender-based violence.
Coordinator, Better Health for Rural Women, Children and Internally Displaced Persons Foundation, Nkechi Echiegu, said this.
BERWO is the Pet project of the wife of the Ebonyi State Governor, Mary-Maudline Uzoamaka Nwifuru.
Echiegu spoke during an official visit to ADAHCDI on Tuesday in Abakaliki, the state capital.
She stated that the training would further boost the successes so far recorded in the fight against GBV and other related issues in Ebonyi State.
Echiegu noted that getting some religious adherents and leaders to key into the fight against certain social anomalies has always remained a great challenge owing to the denial approach to issues of fact by most adherents.
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She assured the organisation of BERWO’s support and collaboration in achieving its goals and aspirations, adding that BERWO within the short period of its existence has impacted so many lives and taken the GBV fight to a higher dimension.
She said: “BERWO, using the office of Her Excellency, the wife of the Governor, provides an enabling environment for people to achieve their dreams and aspirations.”
The BERWO Coordinator further enjoined the FBO to continue to invest in skill acquisition and capacity building in order to enhance professionalism in their activities.
She said: “What you do not know, you do not know.
“So, it is better you know and teach people about it because if you have training, you have knowledge.”
The ADAHCDI Project Coordinator, Rev. Chukwunenye Umeokafor, in his address explained that his organisation in collaboration with the church’s parent NGO, Anglican Compassion and Development Initiative, was working with the Ford Foundation to execute projects on eliminating GBV in the state.
He lamented that the Ford Foundation in her research rated Ebonyi State very high in GBV prevalence, describing it as worrisome.
Umeokafor explained: “In the course of our collaborative efforts, we have held community dialogues in some communities in the state.
“We have trained different societies and clubs inside the church, and trained our priests and pastors on psychosocial counselling geared towards achieving success in our activities.
“We have also visited NAPTIP, traditional rulers, the Ministry of Women Affairs, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps as well as the News Agency of Nigeria.”
Umeokafor solicited for the support and collaboration of BERWO in advancing their activities in the state.
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