Special Adviser to the Governor on Civil Society Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), Ntufam Peter Oti, who disclosed this at the 16th graduation ceremony of Girls’ Power initiative (GPI), said: “The Cross River State government is not only gender-sensitive but also child-friendly”.
Oti, who represented Governor Liyel Imoke, also witnessed the inauguration of AMANITARE segxwal Rights Network’s national advocacy campaign with the theme “My Health, My Life”.
He restated the state’s commitment to Child Rights Law, adding that “this is clearly expressed in the domestication of the Child Rights Law and its implementation in the state.
“We will also continue to initiate programmes that will provide a brighter future for the girl-child and children generally,” he said.
Oti said the theme of the national segxwality campaign was appropriate in view of the quality of the graduating girls who had undergone the three-year intensive and comprehensive segxwality programme at the GPI.
He also lauded the GPI for successfully undertaking the campaign against the continued adoption of negative traditional practices that were either harmful or not in the interest of the girl-child.
Oti said: “I salute the courage of the founding fathers of GPI for complementing the efforts of government in the campaign to lift the status and wellbeing of the girl-child. GPI directors have consistently created a pivot, which has launched our young girls into social prominence. This value re-orientation needs to be sustained in the years to come”.
The Coordinator, GPI, Calabar Centre and Chairperson, GPI Executive Board, Prof. Bene Madunagu, said the advocacy campaign was meant to accelerate the right to segxwal and Reproductive Health Services (SRHR) for women and health in Africa.
She said the AMANITARE, a regional campaign project, which started in Nigeria in 2010, also runs in five other African counties including Mozambique, Zambia, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
She added that the focus on Nigeria was on improved access and availability to SRHR services for young girls of 10 to 24 years and charged stakeholders, including the media, to continue to assist young girls to live healthy lives “so as to have a next generation.
“To the young girls who are graduating today, we are sending you forth into a larger society to spread the information and skills gained from GPI to others”.
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