On November 29, 2019 President Dekle presented certificates to all 21 pioneers of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)-sponsored course in Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies (GBViE).
Dr. Dekle is pleased AUN partnered with the UN in offering the course.
"And the University will ensure that it makes the program sustainable," she said at the presentation ceremony.
The two-week course was hosted by the School of Law. The facilitation team was multidisciplinary including faculty from the School of Arts & Sciences.
Deputy Regional Director of UNFPA, Mamadou Kante, urged pioneers to continue the good work in the next phase.
While the course participants met the academic and field requirement for graduation, they began a three-month internship in the new phase.
Mr. Kante said the MoU with AUN will help build the capacity of a critical mass of local actors to adequately respond to GBViE.
"UNFPA is committed to its mandate of ensuring that every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, every young person's potential is fulfilled, every woman or young girl is treated with dignity."
Dean of the School of Business &Entrepreneurship (SBE), Dr. Attahir Yusuf, who represented the provost, said that AUN is involved in the project because it is a development-oriented organization.
"Anything that we do is supposed to change our community and society for the better. We take it from all angles: economic, political, business, and humanitarian and we come down to things like Gender-Based Violence."
A participant from Borno, Maryam Aji, said that despite being in the field for many years, many of them were getting a fresh perspective on issues of gender-based violence.
"One of the key lessons that I have come to understand is that GBV is everyone's business. Another is that we cannot prevent conflict in emergencies. But we can always put measures in place to reduce it."
For Fatima Bello Raji, this training is different from past exercises. Participants learned a great deal from colleagues from different states and organizations.
"It has translated theory to practice. With the field visit, case studies, group discussions, and even for starters, the online training we had before coming here, it gave us an idea of what is expected of us. And most importantly, the online platform where students and facilitators can discuss the topic has expanded our horizon a lot."
Members of the senior management team who witnessed the event include the Dean of Arts & Sciences, Dr. Patrick Fay; Interim Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, Prof Chris Mbah; the Vice President for University Relations, Dr. Abba Tahir' and Assistant Vice President of the Foundation Programs, Reginald Braggs. The keynote speaker at the November 30, 2019 Founder's Day, Dr. Paul Vita, also attended.
Also present at the event were representatives from the International Rescue Committee (IRC), UN Women and the Federal Medical Center, Yola, all of whom helped in the facilitation of the course.
Reported by Omorogbe Omorogiuwa