From Ene Asuquo, Calabar
A nongovernmental  organization( NGO),  Centre for Gender Economics (CGE Africa), has charged.
Cross River State government ministries, departments and agencies  (MDAs)  have been charged to formulate  policies and budgets that would respond to  gender based violence (GBV), prevention, empowerment  and mitigation.

A non Governmental Organization (NGO) gave the charge yesterday in Calabar during a training workshop for top Government functionaries in the State.
The group which advocates institutional support in  promotion of women’s access to economic activities across all ages, canvassed  for innovative solutions for achievement of economic equality  and security for women across  the six geo-political zones of the nation.
Speaking yesterday at the workshop in Calabar, the executive director, Centre for Gender Economics (CGE Africa), Uchenna  Idoko, while giving insight on the topic of the training workshop of 46 participants drawn from  Cross River State government ministries, departments and agencies MDAs  charged participants to use knowledge gained at the  workshop  to be innovative in the  formulation policies and budget that will  prevent, empower and mitigate gender based violence.
Idoko who spoke on the workshop title; Gender Responsive Budgeting ( GRB) for Gender Based Violence (GBV) Prevention and Mitigation in Cross River State averred  that by so doing, the state and nation at generally stand the chance to secure safe families and  society that can build tomorrow’s leaders.
“This is why the government must begin to budget  to prevent violence against men, women, boys and girls, because of their gender, by doing so, we will have a safer state, we will have children, and have normal humans, we will  have  safe  families that can raise our leaders of tomorrow.”
“Like we said during  the training, prevention is better than mitigation. Mitigation can lead to war. A lot of People are going through violence in different ways, and the government is just seeing the number as just numbers without knowing that there are people behind the numbers.”
“My expectation from participants at the end of this training is that every MDA, especially the ones that are here, is to start having budgets that respond swiftly to GBV prevention, empowerment and mitigation.
“To participants, I urge you  to join hands with your chief executives to develop a programme,within your  budget threshold which you already have not even increased ,but prioritize and allocate money on GBV prevention, empowerment and mitigation.
“I want to see that the ministry of education is responsive to GBV by their training. Even if it is in schools, a lot  of gender based violence is ongoing even  in primary schools . If they can kick-start a process budgeting  for that responsiveness without waiting for international agencies. It would be fine.
“Women are in IDP camps being raped, because even where they shower is not enclosed, men see women while they are taking their bath. I urge you to  make some changes, construct men toilets, let there be toilets for females, keep them in safe conditions and not in tarpaulins that can easily  be pulled down by children.” he cautioned”.
Idoko stressed that why they are targeting Government functionaries is  because they are the key budget officials who in the workshop maintain that the government budget should not be gender neutral , but gender responsive to do the needful.
She stressed that the top government functionaries equipped  with skills on how to tackle  GBV issues, can make a difference for a safer society and build tomorrow’s leaders for egalitarian society.