The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has charged social service providers to step up action to protect the girlchild from abuse in the form of genital mutilation.
UNICEF Chief of Enugu Field Office, Mr Ibrahim Conteh said this at Njaba Local Government Area of Imo on Tuesday during an advocacy workshop on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) related social services.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two-day workshop, organised by the Imo Government with support from UNICEF had in attendance health, security and education personnel as well as religious leaders from Isu and Njaba LGAs of Imo.
Conteh, who was represented by Mr Benjamin Mbakwem, UNICEF consultant on FGM for Imo and Ebonyi, said that the workshop was aimed at strengthening child protection and response system among providers of FGM related social services.
He added that the workshop would identify accessible social services for victims of FGM and increase participants knowledge of guidelines for rendering such services.
“This workshop is borne out of a desire to eradicate FGM in line with extant laws as well as address complications resulting from the practice such as urinary incontinence, clitoral neuroma and dyspareunia among others.
“To achieve this, it will be necessary to increase the knowledge of essential service providers on guidelines for providing the services with a view to strengthening child protection,” he said.
Also, the UNICEF facilitator for FGM in Imo, Mr Vitus Ekeocha urged the participants not to relent in providing essential services to victims of violence against women and girls.
He added that while such services could diminish the losses experienced by women, families and communities, they also played a key role in poverty reduction through women empowerment which was part of the Sustainable Development Goals for year 2030.
“We cannot get tired of molding a society that advances gender equality, women empowerment and victim/survivor safety, where the perpetrators of this obnoxious act are made accountable for their actions.
“Social service providers must therefore be available and accessible, communicate effectively, prioritise safety and improve their data collection and information management skills,” he said.
Earlier, the state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Vulnerable Groups, Mrs Nkechi Ugwu had announced FGM hotline numbers in her ministry to include 07044789515 and 07041689390.
She also said that the state government would not relent in ensuring that perpetrators of FGM and other forms of violence against women and girls were prosecuted accordingly.
One of the participants, Mrs Olivia Duruchukwu, an environmental health officer called for increased funding for social services and pledged her commitment to ending violence against the female folk.
