Gov. Ahmad Aliyu of Sokoto State, has pledged that his administration will sustain the achievements of EU-UN Spotlight Initiative Project and upscale the resilient toward safeguarding women and girls in the state.

Aliyu, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Aminu Dikko, gave the assurance at the project’s closeout and handing over ceremony on Saturday in Sokoto.

He described the achievements as laudable that portrayed the living conditions of women and girls as well as the situation of community action which triggered increased cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) especially in the rural areas.

Aliyu explained that the project’s achievements had pronounced women and girls potentialities, areas of deprivations, culture of silence and norms in the state.

He assured that state government, through its relevant agencies would leverage on the performance and upscale the activities in view of their importance to the development of women and girls.

Aliyu urged the established formations, response teams, law enforcement agencies and groups to maximally support state government with right commitment.

The State Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs, Hajia Hadiza Shagari, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Hajia Aisha Dantsoho, said,” the journey has been a very tedious, however, recorded several successes.”
Also speaking, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, described the project as succour to the community and urged s the stakeholders to sustain the momentum.

Abubakar, who was represented by the Wazirin Sokoto, Prof. Sambu Wali-Junaid, said promulgated Child Protection Law, along with Violence Against Persons Protection (VAPP) law were enshrined in line with the religious and cultural provisions in the state.

He assured that the traditional rulers would continue to support the initiative toward protecting people’s lives especially the well-being of women and girls.

Earlier, Mr Ibrahim Sesay, the Chief Child Protection Officer of UNICEF, said more needed to be done to improve the quality of lives of the citizens in recognition of achievements on GBV issues.

Sesay said the project started in Sokoto State as an initiative of the United Nations with funding support from the European Union (EU).