A Civil Society Organisation, Network of Peace and Security for Women in the ECOWAS Region NOPSWECO wants warring parties to lay down their weapons and concentrate on the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
National President of the Organisation Dr. Lydia Umar made this known in Kaduna at a press briefing to mark this year’s International Day of Peace with the theme; Recovering Better for an Equitable and Sustainable World.
Dr. Lydia Umar said a common global response was needed to check a pandemic that has continued to threaten stability and human security.
The National President of NOPSWECO who described COVID as an unprecedented global pandemic, pointed to the fact that it does not discriminate between races, nationalities, religion and political belief.
She stressed that as part of its action plan, NOPSWECO would contribute significantly to the visibility of a regional campaign for peace in the Sahel in order to highlight the role of women in the search for and consolidation of peace.
Executive Director Girlsup Africa Omokide Chikodinaka Iheoma regretted that during the lockdown, women and girls experienced a lot of Gender Based Violence, hence the need to help them overcome the trauma they went through.
She said since the burden of the COVID conflict on women and girls was enormous, government must begin to initiate concrete policies that would assist them to recover better and stronger.
COV/ Terfa Awuhe