Bauchi State government has concluded a two-day Gender-Based Violence (GBV) training programme for secondary school students in the state.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Bauchi State Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Development, Mr Aliyu Ahmed, said that the programme aimed to sensitise participants to the dangers of GBV.
Ahmed said that the training will pave the way for the inauguration of secondary school-based GBV clubs in the state.
He explained that the event focused on established protocols on referral pathways and principles of handling GBV survivors.
The official said it was organised by the Ministry of Women Affairs in partnership with Bauchi State High Court and Ikra Foundation for Women and Youth Development.
“We brought together students from private and public schools for the pilot establishment of the clubs. We also involved students from special schools.
“This is a pilot programmme; it is our hope that the participants will go back and share the knowledge they have acquired.
“The participating schools will also establish GBV clubs, the long-term plan is to scale up this programme across the state,” he said.
In her remarks, the Director, Women, Ministry of Women Affairs, Hajiya Fatima Abdullahi, said that the students will become anti GBV campaign ambassadors in their respective schools after they have been trained.
Abdullahi described GBV as a phenomenon that had affected people of different gender, age and religion.
She said that the clubs will be established in partnership with Ministry of Education in order to achieve set objectives.