EU, Denmark plan to check gender-violence in Nigeria

The European Union (EU) Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Ketil Karlson has expressed the body’s commitment to eradicating gender-based violence in Nigeria through activism.

Karlson, who spoke at the weekend in Abuja at an event tagged “15 minutes’ Flash Mob” organised by the EU as part of activities to mark the 2018 days of activism against gender-based violence”, urged all stakeholders to join the move to end the menace globally.

“The message we are sending is that violence must stop. Of course we have to say this now but we have to remember it for the rest of the year and for the many years to come because our daughters, our wives, our mothers don’t really deserve to experience violence.

“We are having events on the internet because we want to reach out to millions of people and to make sure that this important message really gets across,” he said.

A lot of Nigerian celebrities, according to Karlson, have joined the campaign because of their belief in the project.

“There is no better day to tell the world and the women in particular that they deserve our support to end all forms of gender based violence,’’ he said

The Denmark Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Jasper Kamp, said the event was extremely important in order to make people aware of the issues with gender- based violence in Nigeria and all over the world.

He said the Denmark government was committed to fighting against such violence all over the world, adding that the activism was aimed at engaging millions of people through social and conventional media.

He encouraged individuals and groups to support the movement by reporting any act of violence against women to the appropriate authorities like the police and other relevant agencies.

“We are here to support the project as Denmark, and EU in Nigeria. We have a campaign called 16 days of activism against gender based violence,” Kamp said.