500 days on - #BringBackOurGirls!
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Former Executive Director of UN Women & Deputy President of SA Founder of Umlambo Foundation Gender Activist and Campaigner for Universal Access to Education
500 days ago, in the town of Chibok, northern Nigeria, Borno state, over 200 girls were abducted from their hostel by Boko Haram. The few who have returned are scarred by the emotional, psychological and physical brutality of their captivity. The fate of those that remain is unknown.
The Chibok Girls’ lives matter. Their situation is our shared problem as a global community. The humanitarian impact of Boko Haram is growing by the day; thousands are displaced, swelling the numbers of refugees in the region. Violent extremism is one of the greatest peace and security threats we face globally at present, hallmarked by the targeting of women and girls, the use of trafficking for funding sources, and sexual violence as a tactic of terror. Our response must therefore include prevention efforts, directly addressing the drivers of extremist violence with an aim of building resilient families and communities.
UN Women applauds the Buhari Administration in their efforts to put an end to the situation of child abduction that continues to afflict the northern regions of Nigeria. We are encouraged by the mounting news of releases of abducted girls. With the support of the global community, we can counter this scourge of violence in the region.
To build societies that are conflict-resilient and able to permanently address the root causes of extremist violence requires investing in policies and programmes that support good governance and sustainable development. By definition, this must involve policies and programmes that empower women as decision makers and partners.
We congratulate the government on the passage last May of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill. We encourage the State and local governments to enact this in their states and localities, to make budget allocations to prevent and respond to violence against women, and to build a strong foundation of human rights.
Nigeria cannot do this alone, nor should it have to. We must all do more to protect girls, as well as boys, who are at risk in areas affected by Boko Haram, including protecting their rights to security, life and education. We must support the reintegration of those rescued and ensure that they are welcomed and supported, not stigmatized. Many need access to comprehensive care services, including support for trauma and health impacts as well as income-generating skills. In this respect, I call on the international community to step up efforts to support national authorities in addressing their needs.
During this global week of action in commemoration of the Chibok Girls, we join the call of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to unconditionally release the Chibok girls and the many children and adults kidnapped in the North East. We must consider that these are not just Nigeria’s children, they are our children. In the spirit of what is termed in many parts of Africa as Ubuntu — where my neighbour’s child is my child — on this day we, the global community, must stand with our Chibok girls. We must remember them each day and do all that we can to help increase efforts to rescue those who remain in captivity.
We must also on a practical level support Nigeria and the global community to prevent the spread and influence of extremist groups such as Boko Haram.
No child should have to fear going to school. No child should ever have to fear being a child. And no child should ever have to fear being a girl.
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Photo credit: UN Women/Ryan Brown
Graphic: BBOGNYC
Attended UNIVERSITY OF DODOMA
9 年cool
Consultant | Legal | Jobs and Migration | Data Protection | Training
9 年The imperative of unending advocacy for the girl-child education, protection and advancement cannot be overemphasised, however, I think that where both boys and girls suffer harms, albeit divergent, on the basis of their sex, then gender advocacy should be adjusted to integrate the rights of the boy-child. Or better still, it might be more effective to adopt the child's rights advocacy approach. My comment emanates from the knowledge that many young boys were murdered within their school premises by the Boko Haram insurgents, before and after the girls were abducted, many more were conscripted into the insurgency and those who objected were killed. The entire local and international media and advocacy groups have privileged the girls over the boys in this campaign, and I have come to the conclusion that the attention created by that privileging has contributed immensely to what I have termed the 'feminisation of suicide bombings' in Nigeria. The insurgents must have realised that harming women and girls brings more prominence than harming the boys, while the boys must have by now come to the conclusion that their lives do not matter as much the lives of the girls. Let us campaign for the safety of all Nigerian children.
Director at Sumertas Property Investments
9 年Do politicians, ever wonder how Boko Haram, ISIS or any other terrorist organization manage to procure the latest AK 47, other high powered weapons, tanks, tons of explosives, bullets that never seem to run out and as shown on TV with ISIS brand new Toyota Pic-Up's? They dont seem to talk about it? Could Boko Haram have captured the Chibok girls without these weapons? I dont think so, then they would have to use knives and sticks. SO WHO I IS SELLS THESE WEAPONS TO THE TERRORISTS? (Sad but if you dig deep, the manufacturing countries are usually the ones sitting at UN meetings and condoning the actions of these terrorists, without questioning the fact these weapons were manufactured in their country) We can have as many walks, protests as we like, pray as much as we want, but the only thing that will stop these tragic events (including one now in Syria) from happening over and over again is: Politicians to tackle the root cause of the problem by "STOPPING THE GREEDY PEOPLE/ GOVERNMENTS / ETC, SELLING ARMS TO THESE TERRORISTS.
Senior Accountant @ Chemonics | Result Oriented, Compliance Expert
9 年extremist violence needs to be tackled collectively by everybody. the continuing increase in extreme violence groups like Boko Haram, Alshabab and other groups in Africa is shocking to many African girls, youths as well as the whole community. This needs more attention and fast if the African community is going to stay in peace as well as the whole world.
What a tragedy this is in our society. Adding to this I believe it is time to find a collective voice for all issues of injustice against women and children. This incident will continuously remind us to take issues of abuse and violation very seriously. We need a collective response to injustice regardless of what part of the continent I represent. It's time to act, Now not Tomorrow.