By Dorathy Aninge
The CLEEN Foundation and other stakeholders have expressed concern over the poor implementation of the Benue State Action Plan (SAP) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS).
The stakeholders raised the concern on Wednesday in Makurdi at a three-day state-level dialogue on “Advancing Gender-Responsive Police and Institutional Practice”, organised by the CLEEN Foundation in collaboration with the Norwegian Embassy.
Declaring the dialogue open, the Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation, Mr Peter Maduoma, said efforts to address women’s peace and security issues in the state remained largely fragmented.
Maduoma, who was represented by Mrs Chigozirim Okoro, Programme Manager, CLEEN Foundation, said the level of commitment and implementation was far below what was required.
He noted that although Benue had established peace structures, including a peace commission, a women’s mediation platform and HeForShe advocates, their activities were being implemented in isolation.
According to him, inadequate coordination among relevant institutions remains a major challenge, alongside funding constraints, lack of dedicated budget lines and poor budget implementation.
He said the dialogue aimed to assess institutional gaps and opportunities to translate gender commitments into policies, programmes, budgets and operational practices.
He said the programme was also designed to strengthen the capacity of state legislators, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and policymakers to design, enact and implement gender-responsive policies.
He added that it would raise public and institutional awareness of the importance of gender equality, women’s empowerment and participation, while promoting dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders.
“Another objective is to generate actionable, state-specific recommendations and commitments for advancing gender-responsive institutional practice,” he said.
He said the dialogue would adopt a policy-to-practice and evidence-to-action approach rather than the conventional conference format.
He said it was structured around four key questions: “What commitments already exist? What is being implemented? Where are the institutional gaps? And what practical actions can address those gaps?”
According to him, the approach will enable participants to move beyond broad commitments to clearly defined institutional responsibilities, priorities and measurable actions.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of Elohim Development Foundation, Dr Victoria Daaor, said the identified gaps were hindering the effective implementation of WPS initiatives in the state.
Daaor expressed concern that some agencies expected to work in synergy with the CLEEN Foundation Monitoring and Implementation Committee were not sufficiently aware of their responsibilities.
She called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders to ensure effective implementation of the state’s WPS commitments.
Similarly, Mr Nathaniel Igbazua of Corafid, a non-governmental organisation, advocated the inclusion of heads of relevant agencies in CLEEN implementation committees.
Igbazua stressed the need to sensitise key stakeholders, particularly the budget office, on the importance of creating a dedicated budget line for WPS.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three-day dialogue, which began on Tuesday, will end on Thursday. (NAN)
