ECOWAS Trains Officers To Strengthen Multisectoral Response To Gender-Based Violence.

By Ferdinand Olise

The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has priortised efforts to consolidate a multisectoral response to Gender Based Violence, GBV, based on improved collaboration among the security, justice, health, and social protection sectors.

This approach is essential to ensuring more effective, coherent, and survivor centered care.
Beyond individual capacity building, this meeting was part of a broader approach to addressing Gender Based Violence in the sub-region.

According to a statement by the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, the ECOWAS Center for Gender Development, (EGDC), the Ministry of Women, Family, and Children of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, and the Akwaba Mousso Association, co-organised a capacity building workshop for Judicial Police Officers in Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire.

The capacity building was organized for the Police and Gendarmerie, Gender-Based Violence focal points in the justice sector, and other frontline actors involved in the prevention and response to GBV.

The objective of the workshop was to strengthen their practical skills in order to improve the prevention of GBV, the identification of victims, and the holistic care of survivors in terms of support, referral, and access to appropriate and coordinated care services.

According to the statement, beyond individual capacity building, the meeting was part of a broader effort to consolidate a multisectoral response to GBV, based on improved collaboration among the security, justice, health, and social protection sectors.

The Commission stated that this approach is essential to ensuring more effective, coherent, and survivor-centered care.