By Olalekan Awojodu
Abuja
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN on Thursday reiterated that curbing the high rising cases of sexual and gender based violence in the country requires a multi sectoral approach by all stakeholders.
Malami made the statement while giving an address at the 2nd meeting of the inter-ministerial management committee held in Abuja.
Malami who made reference to the recent gruesome rape and killing of 11 years old Tobi in Lagos, regretted that the event was a reminder of the very real presence of the evil in our society, saying there was need to take urgent steps to address the destructive scourge.
He said, “There is no denying the fact that by its nature, combating SGBV necessarily requires a multi-stakeholder engagement as no one sector can do it all.
“That is why each of you has been selected to represent key sectors and institutions.
“Hence, our optimum collaboration is germane to the success of this mandate” Malami said.
According to the AGF, the Federal Government in its determination to ensure the success of the work of the committee has directed the Co-Chairing of the Inter-Ministerial Management Committee on SGBV by the Hon. Minister for Women Affairs and the Inclusion of the Hon. Minister of State for Finance in the Inter-Ministerial Committee on SGBV.
“This is to harmonize all efforts and resources that has been established at the Federal level against this terrible crime in our society and to guarantee a better and more impactful result.
“The coming on board of the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning will also pave the way for this committee to attain the objective of providing support for better planning and gender responsive budgeting with a focus to preventing and eradicating SGBV.
This, he said, will also facilitate the mainstreaming of SGBV implementation plan into the budget of relevant line MDAs/sectors of the economy to enable Nigeria achieve SDG 5 (on gender equality) and SDG 16 (on peace, justice and strong institutions) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda respectively.
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