Ogun State government says plans are on-going to set up a Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) court to handle issues relating to sexual abuses and violence against defenseless people of the State.
The State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun disclosed this, when he received the Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund, Ms. Ulla Mueller, who was on a visit to the Governor in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
The governor said issues relating to population and gender equality are germane to sustainable development, hence the domestication of the Violence Against Person’s Prohibition (VAPP), ensuring that more female takes part in the governance process and strengthening of the Sex and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) response network in the State, amongst others.
Prince Abiodun maintained that for the State to keep improving the welfare, well-being, and wellness of its people, it was imperative that the government continue to jointly pursue the implementation with the world body.
He lauded the UNFPA for remaining a dependable and committed ally despite the fact that the state had not fulfilled its obligations for some time now.
He assured the UN agency that this year’s counterpart funding would be released to the agency.
“It is noteworthy that in the last five years, the Ogun State government had not contributed their own counterpart funding to UNFPA. This administration in line with our priorities saw the need to strengthen our partnership with you and we immediately resolved that we will begin to put things right, that is the reason why we paid the first tranche of our counterpart funding to you”.
“It is also noteworthy that despite the fact that the counterpart funding was not forthcoming, your agency remained a dependable and committed ally to the state,” he said.
The governor while further assuring the body that his administration had resolved to continue supporting the agency’s campaign of making the world a better place, said that the government would continue to work at improving the State health sector.
In her remark, the Country Representative, United Nations Population Fund, Ms. Ulla Mueller, appreciated the governor for approving the payment of its counterpart funding despite the paucity of fund.
She congratulated the state for being among the lowest in terms of the global level of maternal mortality rate in the country.
Mueller added that the State was also on the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate of 32.1%, which means that the state was not far from the Family Planning 2020 commitment, of 38 percent. Ogun plans to create a special court to handle sexual violence, Gov. Abiodun
