‘Information key to gender violence, HIV/AIDS mitigation’

It is common knowledge that women are mostly affected by HIV/AIDS infection, what is your organization doing concerning that?Yes, a lot of studies and data in the country have shown that women are mostly affected by HIV/AIDS .It is as a result of this that  NACA which coordinates all responses on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria  is […]

It is common knowledge that women are mostly affected by HIV/AIDS infection, what is your organization doing concerning that?
Yes, a lot of studies and data in the country have shown that women are mostly affected by HIV/AIDS .It is as a result of this that  NACA which coordinates all responses on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria  is collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development which coordinates all national  responses on women with support from other partners like UN Women, UNDP, UNAIDS to develop a National Action Plan to support women in getting  information about gender based violence and to be able to access the services we have in the country to support them.
It is also to develop strategies that will help us put an end to gender based violence. Gender based violence  is not just about women , men are involved too. It is also to provide information to both males and females in the community to know what to look out for in situations of gender based violence. Studies we have conducted show that within the community gender based violence especially in the area of sexual violence makes victims predisposed to HIV/AIDS.
 It is also about providing information on what to do when it happens to them or others including children around them. We all have a role to play and need to work together.
The National Action Plan is also to enable us come up with strategies and activities that will help us work with the community, local government and state level partners  on how to provide information on prevention, and what help is available  within the system on gender based violence and HIV/AIDS.
It is about supporting them in the fight against gender based violence and HIV/AIDS because there is a strong relationship between HIV/AIDS infection.
Within the last few days members of the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN) have been protesting in front of NACA office about their inability to access antiretroviral drugs and reduced funding for HIV/AIDS among others. Among the protesters were women and children. As the head of the gender desk in NACA what is your take on this?
The work we are doing at this meeting is just timely. We didn’t plan with the women and children living with HIV/AIDS to come to the streets but you can see from what we are doing (the National Action Plan) that we are not resting on our oars.
This is something we have been working on and it is part of the contribution towards alleviating the challenges they have been facing. The challenges they are facing are real for them to come out and say this is the way it is. It is just for us to intensify efforts and have more funds. As the representative of government we are doing all we can, we are working hard to alleviate the challenges they are facing.
It is part of the responsibility of NACA to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS access antiretroviral drugs in hospitals and health centres. However, many of them have complained that they are often denied drugs in some hospitals. They complain that they are often given time to come for the drugs and when they come, they are often told ‘the drugs are finished go and buy’, is it supposed to be bought or given free and how do you checkmate these practices?
We are working on that. That is the component of health and I am sure that discussions are going on. When we get this kind of reports we work with other ministries, department and agencies to follow it up. This is an information we are having now and we will follow it up. As you know the Director General of NACA has been having series of meetings even before all the protests started, so we are working on it and anything that will stop Nigerians  from accessing services government has provided will be looked into and addressed.
Nigeria is signatory to different charters and convention on gender based violence. But with the insurgency in the country gender based violence is on the rise, does it mean they are not effectively implemented or domesticated?
It is not as if they are not effective, implementation is another aspect. Like the National Action Plan now is a follow up policy document to the laws and services that are being provided.
The action plan is to get each partner or stakeholder  to understand what role they need to play. It is for us to articulate that clearly and follow up on what people are suppose to be doing in terms of  implementing  the charters and  laws that we have.
 It is also about providing information to the people that all that they need is available but they don’t know. For instance we have a lot of media engagements coming up. We are going to develop information packages for community people, government officials and developers of programmes so that they know issues to look out for and how to address those issues identified.
We are also having a compendium of services that are available at local government and state levels. We are putting together all the information so that people will know where to go to when abused. All these things are there but people don’t know where to access these services. We are also partnering with the States on media packages to enlighten the people.
They need to be enlightened that they have rights . If somebody touches you inappropriately you have the right to report.
 Even police officers are part of these initiatives. They equally have gender focal desks at state and local government levels , who are being trained on how to support people that have experienced gender based violence.
So the action plan is not to rewrite laws, or services  but  for all stakeholders to know the roles they need to play in ensuring that the rights of citizens are protected.
The implementation of the National Action Plan is beginning from 2015 to 2017. We also have a plan that will enable us track how the implementation is carried out. We have research, monitoring and evaluation component so that within a timeframe we can see how many reported cases and what has happened to those reported cases and be able to follow up.
The other component of the action plan is to enlighten people who have experienced gender based violence on what to do and for people not to engage in gender based violence.
How is this action plan going to assist people at the grassroots, some of whom don’t even know their rights?
It will get to everyone because the media campaign we are packaging is being done in our different local languages .Just like the HIV/AIDS information which is in different  languages . We have civil society groups who will work at the community level and the resources that are available to them to support them and help them access services.
Infact we have already commenced the pilot of this with Lagos State  with the support of UN Women as part of activities to mark this year’s  World AIDS Day and violence against women campaign.
NACA is doing this so that in a coordinated manner we can replicate this experience . From next year we are going to work with SACAs and State Ministry of Women Affairs so that they will also be doing the same, we will be collating these experiences and sharing for future publications.
What efforts are you making to address stigmatization of victims of gender based violence especially in the rural areas where it is very common?
The National Action Plan on gender based violence and HIV/AIDS intersection is to look into all of that . We have developed strategies to address issues like stigmatization with all relevant stakeholders and that is why we have gathered to validate them at this meeting.
We are developing a media campaign to enlighten people on it. Information is key many people stigmatize because they lack information.
Also the National Assembly has passed the bill on stigmatization and it is just awaiting presidential assent. As soon as the bill is signed by Mr President we would have a platform to operate.
There is also the aspect is capacity building for all stakeholders. This is very important  because some people don’t even know when that they are abused. This will provide as many people as possible with skills on gender based violence which is at the hub of HIV/AIDS infection.