As women across the globe continue to celebrate 2025 International Women’s Day (IWD), an international organization with the name AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has stressed the need to strengthen support for women and girls, insisting on respect as well as value for them.
Senior Regional Medical Manager of AHF in Benue state, Ugboji, stated this during the opening session for the celebration of the event in Makurdi, the state capital.
Ugboji, who stressed the importance of women in the society, noted that their value cannot be overemphasized and pledged the organization’s unalloyed support to them to improve on the quality of their lives.
He said the theme for this year’s IWD celebration, “Accelerate Action”, was apt and reiterated the commitment of the agency to prioritize the activities of women to encourage them.
Also speaking, the Advocacy and Managing Manager, AHF, Steve Aborisade, decried obstacles against women in the society, stressing the need to give them the full backing to contribute their quota to societal growth.
He said as an organization, AHF is working hard to put women on the same pedestal with their male counterparts, saying a lot of successes have been recorded in this direction.
In her goodwill message, the HIV Coordinator at the State Ministry of Health, Obatomi Joy, drummed support for girls to be given the needed support and admonished the women to come together to help accelerate the desired progress to end discrimination against women.
The State Nursing Coordinator (SNC) of AHF, Ruth Atabo, in her message, lamented gender discrimination against women, saying the situation “calls for increased momentum and urgency in addressing the systemic barriers and biases that women face, both in personal and professional spheres.”
Atabo said the AHF Mentor Mothers Programme is designed to empower women living with HIV by providing them with the necessary skills and knowledge to mentor other mothers in the same situation.
She pointed out that the Girls Act initiative, which fosters leadership and confidence for girls and young women to support each other, strengthens fundamental life skills and develops community activism, as well as empowers girls and young women to stay healthy and thrive.
The state Ministry of Women Affairs, in her message via the Director, Women Affairs in the Ministry, Magdalene Andor, commended AHF for organizing the event.
Andor said the state government has established a Sexual Assault Center (SAC) at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital where all cases of Gender Based Violence (GBVs) are treated and advised the women to feel free to patronize the place to have their problems solved.
The association of women living with HIV/AIDS led by Esther Abba, Mentor Mothers, Girls Act, Advocacy Club and the Lawyers Alert, among others, also presented goodwill messages at the event.
