Stakeholders hold roundtable on Gender-Based Violence in education
By Mahmood Olayinka Alaya
Stakeholders in the education sector convened today for a roundtable discussion on the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Kwara State Government and the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project.
The meeting, held under the World Bank-supported AGILE programme, focused on strategies to reduce gender disparities in secondary education by improving learning opportunities for adolescent girls across Kwara State.
The Kwara State Government represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, Mrs. Rebecca Bake Olanrewaju, AGILE State Project Coordinator, Mr. Adesina Salami, and the State Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Alhaji Dare Abdulganiyu Olurotimi and other critical stakeholders discussed the MoU.
In his remarks, the State NOA Director, Alhaji Abdulganiyu Olurotimi stressed the importance of preventing gender-based violence (GBV), while emphasising the need for a dedicated GBV service provider to handle all related cases with confidentiality and professionalism.
Other participants echoed the urgency of providing psychological support for GBV survivors and emphasized the importance of building a response system that prioritizes safety, efficiency, and dignity.
Speaking on the scale of the collaboration, AGILE State Project Coordinator, Mr. Adesina Salami revealed that the initiative will cover 898 secondary schools across all 16 local government areas of Kwara State.
As part of its implementation, he said trained female Guidance and Counselling (G&C) officers will be appointed in schools to manage GBV-related cases.
The AGILE project focuses on three core components: creating safe and inclusive learning environments, increasing access to secondary education for adolescent girls, and mobilizing community support for girls’ education and empowerment.
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