By Philip Yatai

Connected Development (CODE) on Thursday trained women in Kaduna State on participating and tracking COVID-19 response and peace building initiatives.

CODE’s Senior Programme Manager, Mrs Lucy Abagi made this known in Kaduna at a two-day training funded by the UN Women under its Strengthening States Capacities and Women’s Participation in COVID-19 Response project.

Abagi said that the project sought to build the capacity of women in the state to participate in COVID-19 response and broaden their participation in peacebuilding initiatives.

“The project was specifically designed to strengthen the capacity of women and girls to lead advocacies toward developing and monitoring of COVID-19 actions, policies, plans and budget.

“This will enable CODE to document learnings of women-led COVID-19 responses in the state.

“The training will, therefore, build the needed capacity for the women to track COVID 19 actions, policies, plans and budget including government strategic plan for economic recovery and future health resilience in Kaduna State.

“Using CODE Follow the Money Model, the project will promote women’s participation in the implementation of COVID-19 response strategy and peacebuilding initiatives in Kaduna State,” she said.

She said that CODE, through its follow the money movement had developed and strengthened the capacity of citizens and government stakeholders to enhance community involvement and influence government policies.

The NGO’s Communications Associate, Ms Adaora Okoye, said that Kaduna State had activated COVID-19 Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) to coordinate all COVID-19 response.

Okoye said that the EOC developed an Incident Action Plan with nine strategic pillars, namely coordination, surveillance, epidemiology, case management, infection prevention and control.

“Others include risk communication, logistics and supplies, laboratory, point of entry and research.

“Being among the most vulnerable section of the population, women need to be actively involved in all these actions and plans,” she said.

Mr Kingsley Agu of CODE, who took the participants through Kaduna State social protection, plans and other economic responses to COVID-19 and the state’s 2020 Budget performance, said that the knowledge would help the women in tracking the responses in the state.

This, according to him, would enable the women to determine their level of participation in the state’s COVID-19 response.

On her part, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, the Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development, thanked CODE and the UN Women for building the capacity of women to actively participate in governance.

Baba, who was represented by her Special Assistant, Mr Haruna Alifa, said women participation in COVID-19 response would significantly improve the quality of government response.

She said that creating opportunity for women to share experiences and views on COVID-19 would help in defining the roles women would play if given the opportunity to participate.