Mr Jonah Yahaya, the programme Coordinator of the Bridge
That Gap (BTG) initiative, an NGO implementing for the UN-women under the Peace
Building Fund (PBF) project, disclosed this in Katsina on Friday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme
coordinator unveiled this during the training of Lay Counsellors from Kaita
Local Government Area of the state.
NAN also reports that hub means counselling on-the-go.
Yahaya said: “If you have an issue that you are dealing
with, like you are depressed, you have insomnia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) as a result of experience, you don’t have to seek help else where.
“People within your community should be able to address such
issues and provide help for you. That’s what we are trying to do here, bringing
solutions down to the grassroots.”
Yahaya further explained that most of the facilities they
always spend money on, are within the urban areas, often neglect the rural
communities, but they are creating a mid-shift to be able to bring it down to
the community levels
The programme coordinator said: “Through the PBF, I think
it’s a very big innovation and initiative that UN has thought of, especially
through the UN-women.
“We should be able to look at these issues that the women
experience, particularly in these communities, and be able to address it down
to the barest minimum.
According to him, they embarked on sensitization regarding
the GBV issue, for both men and women separately, thereafter, it will be
followed with the combined exercise, observing that to resolve an issue or a
conflict, both parties must be involved.
“The exercise is a pilot project being carried out in Kaduna
and Katsina, where Kaita and Faskari Local Government Areas were selected from
Katsina, hoping to scale to other LGAs in the nearest future,” Yahaya noted.
He pointed out that the training and sensitization was on
providing Mental Health and Psycho Social Support (MHPSS) to GBV survivors, in
order to address some of the co-issues that happened as a result of conflict.
“We know that many amongst them are GBV, and that has to do
with all its categories, either in form of sexual, physical, emotional, physiological,
or economical abuses.
“So, BTG is here to address some of the aftermath of these
violence that women experience.
“Our target is essentially women, because very often,
they’re the ones at the forefront of these issues, and don’t get as much care
as they supposed to, even when intervention is being provided.
“We want to ensure that gender mainstreaming is critical in
the provision of MHPS, especially for the survivors of GBV,” he said.
He further pointed out that the training is important for
two reasons, trying to mobilise the resources within the communities, leading
to identifying lay Counsellors who have been working around this issue within
the communities, and also to assess their capability on MHPSS.
“We are hoping that at the end of the training they will be
able to get more knowledge to address this issue within their communities as
soon as they come, before referring it to the nearest facility, and follow up
until the survivor acquires justice,” he said. NAN