Kwara communities set up GBV reporting desks after BBYDI’s 2-year intervention

Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI) says communities in Kwara State have begun operating gender-based violence reporting desks, social charters and community-based marriage agreements following a two-year prevention programme.

The organisation said 12 cases of gender-based violence were reported in one of the participating communities, while 10 were resolved through newly established local structures that did not exist about 18 months ago.

The results were presented on Thursday at the second GBV Prevention Statewide Event held at the Kwara State Banquet Hall in Ilorin.

The event was convened by BBYDI and attended by more than 200 participants, including 14 traditional rulers from across the state.

BBYDI said the intervention involved 16 engagements with first-class traditional rulers, as well as workshops across the state’s three senatorial districts.

According to the organization, in Alalubosa, the community traditional head now chairs a GBV reporting desk, while a binding marriage agreement reportedly outlines consequences for spousal violence.

Speaking at the event, Izeduwa Derex-Briggs, Programme Officer for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Justice at the Ford Foundation’s West Africa office, said the organisation supports prevention-focused interventions.

“At Ford Foundation, we do not wait for violence to happen. We are invested in ensuring that GBV does not happen,” she said.

In her keynote address, Prof. Saudat Salah Abdulbaqi, Dean of the Faculty of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Ilorin, urged traditional leaders to take a more active role in addressing gender-based violence.

She said survivors often first seek help within their communities before approaching formal institutions.

“What leaders tolerate becomes culture,” she said. “What leaders condemn begins to change.”

BBYDI also highlighted its AI-powered WhatsApp chatbot, KEMI, designed to support women and girls experiencing technology-facilitated gender-based violence across West Africa.

The organisation also announced the inauguration of a 21-member multi-stakeholder committee on GBV in Kwara State.

The Kwara State Government was represented by the Commissioner for Social Development, Hajiya Mariam Nnafatima Imam, PhD. The Emir of Ilorin was represented by Dr. Usman Atolagbe Abubakar Jos, the Balogun Alanamu of the Ilorin Emirate.