August 29, 2014 – Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), in conjunction with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has organized training sessions for youths drafted from across the state, on “Prevention of gender based violence and responses to gender based violence among youths” .
According to the programme coordinator, Miss. Olufunke Odutola, the training became necessary due to the prevalence of gender based violence, such as rape and incest among youths in the society, adding that since the youths are described as agent of change in the society, it becomes imperative to equip them by training and retraining in order for them to be competent agents of change in their area and society at large.
Fielding questions from newsmen, Executive Director, Innovative Strategy for Human Development (ISHD) Mrs. Oluwatoyin Falade emphasised that there is an urgent need to train and care for youth and women in order to guarantee peace and development in our society, adding that silence on gender based violence in this part of the world is largely due to socio-cultural background in the society.
According to her, “children trained outside Africa are bold enough to speak up when violated because they have laws backing their rights, hence the need to ensure that Nigerian youths break away from the culture of silence through training’’.
