by FIDA

BlogAugust 25, 20220 comments

FIDA Nigeria Annual Dialogue & Peer Learning Forum for Community Gatekeepers

Since 2020 FIDA Nigeria with support from Ford Foundation has been implementing a project tagged “Work with Gate Keepers including Women Leaders, Youths, Religious Leaders and Traditional Rulers to Address Social Norms that negatively affect the status of women and entrench violence against women and girls” aimed at mitigating incidences of gender-based violence in six communities across the project focal states including Ekiti, Lagos and Plateau states by altering social norms, beliefs and traditional practices in the communities through community-led change.

As the project comes to an end, FIDA Nigeria as part of activities towards finalizing its closure on Thursday, 25th August 2022 held an “Annual Dialogue & Peer Learning Forum for Community Gatekeepers in addressing social norms that negatively affect the status of women and entrench violence against women”.

The purpose of this national dialogue was to upscale the previous dialogues organized at state level to a national level with the aim of providing a platform for learning, improved intervention approaches and collaboration amongst Gatekeepers in the project focal communities towards ending gender-based violence as well as boost self-assessment/stocktaking through peer reviews towards ensuring the sustainability of the intervention and to confer awards on selected community champions who have contributed in ending GBV in their communities.

As part of our sustainability plan for this intervention, communities have developed & created action plans to prevent prevalent harmful, religious & cultural practices experienced by women & girls in the communities they are domiciled. This was achieved through capacity-building activities on leadership and GBV issues, town hall meetings, sensitization & awareness campaigns in communities on the prevention of this menace and selection of community champions on SGBV among others.

The event ended on a high note with the acknowledgment of giant strides taken by the communities, the presentation of awards, group photographs and networking amongst stakeholders.

Fida Nigeria confirms the successful implication of this project in the achievement of project objectives and overwhelming satisfaction and happiness of target communities