Akwa Ibom State Government has expressed willingness to partner Danish Government and United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) to assist in reproductive health care programmes for women and campaigns against gender-based violence.
The State Government also seeks to collaborate with UNFPA to promote School Meal Programme for vulnerable Children in selected schools.
The State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, stated this when he hosted the Danish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Sune Krogstrup, in company of Ms Elizabeth Mueller, Resident Representative, UNFPA in his office at Government House, Uyo, midweek.
Emmanuel said governments should be involved at the initial stage of the scheme where necessary contributions can be made to generate the projected impact and results of the project.
“I am glad to hear about funding of the school meals programme. Great idea, but I will love a situation where government will also be carried along in this programme because I don’t know the design of the programme.
“It is just super-imposed and being implemented on a State. I think we need to rejig that scheme and look at the structure and then let’s collaborate, let’s partner and make this scheme work well because we are not feeling the impact,” Emmanuel said.
He assured UNFPA of collaboration to minimise Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the State.
According the Governor, the State Government had signed into law Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) to tackle all forms of violence against persons, provide maximum protection for victims and punishment of offenders.
He said government in this regard, had built a Gender-Based Violence Centre that would be inaugurated this year.
“We want to let you know that we have signed various laws to support the protection of a girl child and child abuse in the state.
“Now we are at the advanced stage of building the GBV centre in the State that will compete favourably with other places. I hope to commission it this September.
“I acknowledge the contributions of Denmark as a country in ending Gender-Based Violence and as a state, we are serious about it.
“We take personal interest to minimise this, I want to minimise this violence, especially other domestic violence,” he said.
He also solicited collaboration and support from the Danish Government in maritime security to curb the challenges in the state’s shoreline.
In his remark, the Ambassador of Denmark, Krogstrup, said his visit to the state was to assess the impact and state of the ongoing School Feeding project, and School Farms for School Meals.
He assured that Denmark was set to fund the feeding programme in the state to improve the nutrition of children.
The Danish envoy said Denmark shared the same objectives with UNFPA in the fight for the right of women and girls and ways to minimise gender-based violence and conflicts.