Participants at International Women's Day forum
The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Lagos and the Women’s Optimum Development Foundation (WODEF) held an interactive forum entitled "Ending Violence against Women and Girls" in Lagos on 9 March 2009 to commemorate International Women’s Day.
The event, which was organised as part of the United Nations system activities to commemorate the Day in Nigeria, brought together top film producers and actresses, representatives of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and frontline non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on women issues, secondary school students from Lagos and the media. Among the special guests at the event were Mrs. Kate Henshaw-Nuttall, a popular Nigeria film actress, and Mr. Kingsley Obom-Egbulem of the Manhood magazine, who gave a presentation on ending violence against women.
Participants looked critically at the numerous perspectives on the issues of how violence against women and girls affect society and how best to strategically resolve the challenges. They also looked at the possibilities of using the film industry as a medium to address the problems. It was highly recommended that filmmakers shift their focus to providing positive endings to stories produced on the topic of violence against women. Participants were challenged, in a short activity during the event, to suggest positive conclusions for short movie clips screened at the event.
At the end of the dialogue, participants agreed that more discussions on the issues should be held on a regular basis. It was also agreed that stakeholders should intensify efforts to expand the public space for advocacy, networking and fund-raising to create more awareness and encourage investment in the empowerment of women and girls in Nigeria.