UNICAL VC vows to sustain fight against Gender Based Violence
The Vice Chancellor of University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Florence Obi, has reiterated her administration’ determination to sustain the fight against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) of the university. Obi said this when officials of the International Society of Media in Public Health (ISMPH) paid her an advocacy visit in Calabar on Monday.
She disclosed that the institution had been at the forefront of the fight against GBV and would leave nothing to chance in its avowed determination to stamp out the menace.
She added that “as an institution, we have been very keen in ending GBV and it is for this reason that I am pledging to sustain the fight against the menace.
“Consequently, the institution will always embrace any form of partnership geared toward tackling GBV issues, as my administration is committed to partnering with ISMPH.
“The need to tackle GBV in UNICAL culminated in the establishment of Centre for Gender Development, which has been up and running since inception.”
In her remarks, the Executive Director of ISMPH, Moji Makanjuola, described the advocacy visit as a “defining moment” for the society in the fight against GBV.
Makanjuola affirmed that the need to institutionalise violence against women for better prevention, response, protocols and programmes.
However she said ISMPH, in conjunction with the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), developed a manual on eliminating Sexual and Gender-based Violence and Harmful practices.
According to her, the manual has been accepted and effectively operational in pilot tertiary institutions as a resource to beef up the existing policies and response framework and sexual GBV.
The Executive Director, said that the project was aimed at conducting training and engagements for staff within the university which requires in-depth discourse of novel strategies to combat violence against women and girls.
She further added that, “if violence against women and girls must be eliminated, education, sensitisation and development of rules and guidelines at the school level are imperative.
“The overreaching goal of the project is to work with three universities, including UNICAL, to mainstream and promote women and girls’ Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
“ISMPH will work closely with the university’s management and unions to organise campus rallies to create awareness of the institutionalisation of GBV prevention and response protocols,” she said.
