Ms Ulla Mueller, the Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), says holding government at all levels accountable is paramount in ending Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Nigeria.
Mueller said this at a forum to commemorate the World Midwives Day in Abuja on Tuesday.
She said that holding government accountable would go a long way in criminalising acts of violence against women in various communities.
The Country Representative explained that only then would perpetrators be genuinely prosecuted.
“If we begin to hold government accountable, then the offence would be criminalised and perpetrators prosecuted.
“And it is when perpetrators are prosecuted that girls and women will have a safe space,” she said.
Mueller, who advocated for synergy among actors to end GBV, said that it was time to give the fight a human face.
” We better begin to see those victims as sisters to some people, mothers and children, then we will feel the touch.
“We should stop naming and shaming the victims. We can only create enabling environment if we make it real and we must not be afraid to speak out,” she said.
