From: Segun Babatunde in Bauchi
A traditional ruler and village head of Liman Katagum village in Bauchi state Yakubu Abubakar Ghani, a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the area, Umar Mahmuda and other stakeholders have advocated the involvement of women in decision making at home and security matters in the society.
They made the advocacy Friday during a town hall meeting with the theme “addressing patriarchal gender norms and the construction of masculinities in conflict affected sitting” organized by International Alert under the ‘He for She project’ for husbands, traditional leaders and security agents in the area.
The village head lauded the project and promised to be part of it pointing out that women nurture children hence they have pivotal role in decision making in the family.
He added that if women involve in decision making, they could help to train their children and rehabilitate the delinquent ones thereby restoring peace in the society.
On his part, the DPO of Liman Katagum who expressed the commitment of the division in tackling gender violence in the town asked women to be reporting gender violence and rape cases to the police so they could respond promptly.
Earlier, the state manager of International Alert Jennifer Dashe said women’s inclusion in decision making process is panacea for development.
According to her, if men promote and support women’s participation in bringing community peace and security, the women could contribute immensely towards building peace in the society.
Also, the chairman of the Bauchi state Network of Civil Society Organizations (BASNEC) Jinjiri Garba said the objective of the meeting was to discuss how to involve women in decision making.
He opined that decision making with women would help in not only promoting peace in the society but improving home management.
