Stakeholders in the fight against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Akwa Ibom State have called for improved data management, stronger coordination and increased funding to enhance the prevention of and response to GBV cases across the state.
The stakeholders made the call at the third-quarter GBV Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting held on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at the conference room of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare.
The meeting, which was organised to strengthen collaboration among stakeholders, focused on information sharing, case management, referrals, data collection and analysis, as well as strategic planning for improved GBV service delivery.
Declaring the meeting open, the Director of Women Affairs in the Ministry, Mrs Margaret Effiong, appreciated the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other development partners for their continued support towards preventing and responding to GBV in the state.
Effiong said the meeting provided an opportunity for stakeholders to review progress, share experiences, identify gaps and strengthen coordination in GBV prevention and response.
She urged participants to contribute meaningfully to the discussions and work towards practical solutions that would improve services for survivors.
Also speaking, the UNFPA Coordinator/Focal Person for Akwa Ibom State, Dr Yakubu Aliyu, described the meeting as critical to the state’s efforts to end GBV and harmful practices.
Aliyu said ending gender-based violence and harmful practices by 2030 was one of UNFPA’s key transformation results, alongside ending preventable maternal deaths and meeting unmet needs for family planning.
He said stakeholders working in GBV prevention and response were critical to ensuring that women, girls and men were protected from violence.
According to him, stakeholders must look beyond statistics by ensuring that survivors receive appropriate medical, legal and psychosocial support.
He said, “When you say someone is violated, what next? You have to help ensure that they get medical, legal and psychosocial support.”
Aliyu stressed that survivors should be treated with dignity and humanity, noting that GBV cases involved real people who were mothers, sisters, brothers and fathers.
He further called for perpetrators to be brought to justice, stressing that government had a responsibility to protect citizens and ensure accountability for GBV offences.
The UNFPA coordinator thanked participants for attending the meeting and announced plans for capacity-building training for social workers and law enforcement agencies in the coming year.
In her remarks, the UNFPA Gender Specialist, Ms Jacque Karungi, who said it was her first time attending a TWG meeting at the Ministry, commended the group for its work in coordinating GBV interventions.
She stressed the importance of data generated from various service delivery points, saying such information should be transmitted to the Ministry to support effective planning and decision-making.
Jacque said accurate data would enable the authorities to determine where additional capacity building was needed for service providers and where services should be deployed to better reach survivors.
The GBV Desk Officer in the Ministry, Mr Etido Edem, identified the absence of a harmonised platform for collecting and reporting GBV data as one of the major challenges confronting the state.
Edem said although GBV remained a serious issue in Akwa Ibom, more needed to be done to publicise the work of the Ministry and the Technical Working Group.
He called for increased government funding for GBV interventions and said more information on the activities and needs of the sector should be presented to the state government to facilitate increased funding.
He disclosed that the Ministry had approached some organisations for assistance in developing a state GBV dashboard, which would enable it to monitor cases reported from local government areas, field officers and NGOs operating across the state.
Edem appealed to development partners and NGOs to support the Ministry in achieving the initiative.
The Director of Planning, Research and Statistics (PRS) in the Ministry, Mr Sandy Yellow, said stakeholders’ forums were important for coordinating responsibilities and preventing duplication of efforts among partners.
Yellow expressed appreciation to the participant who offered to develop a GBV data dashboard for the Ministry.
He noted that proper documentation and reporting were essential to demonstrating the impact of interventions and ensuring that activities and achievements were adequately captured.
The meeting featured presentations of case reports by stakeholders, followed by discussions on challenges affecting GBV prevention, response, referrals and data management.
A major highlight of the meeting was the commitment by one of the participants to develop a GBV data dashboard for the Ministry as his personal contribution to strengthening data management and coordination of GBV interventions in the state.
The meeting was attended by representatives of UNFPA, VCare, members of the GBV Technical Working Group, relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies, NGOs, CSOs and other stakeholders.
