“I pledge
my full support, my voice and everything within my capacity to make sure that
these issues are brought to light and to help educate people about this
violence and see ways we can put an end to it so that we can have a better
society for ourselves and the future generation.”
Those were
the words of Stephanie Linus as she appointed Ambassador for the ‘Stop Violence
Against Women In Elections.
The announcement
of the A-list actress, producer and director, Stephanie Linus, as the Ambassador for the ‘Stop Violence
Against Women In Elections’ Campaign, was made by The United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI), a US-based International
Agency.
The event which
took place at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, was attended by the Acting
INEC Chairman Hajiya Amina Zakari,
the former Deputy Governor of Plateau state Mrs Pauline Tallen, the NDI Country Director Jasper Veen, the Team Leader of
Democracy and Governance USAID Blair
King, a representative of the Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase amongst
others.
The stop-VAWIE (Violence Against
Women In Elections) Campaign is a project that seeks to create public awareness
on various forms of violence against women before, during and after elections
in Nigeria, which often militates their active participation in the electoral
process. The project is funded by the USAID and is an initiative of the
NDI in partnership with the International
Federation of Women Lawyers(FIDA).
Ahead of the
Kogi and Bayelsa gubernatorial elections, Stephanie as an ambassador will
create awareness around the project and elicit the support of different
segments of society to report cases of violence against women and bring an end
to this menace. Stephanie, who is very passionate about the cause and
happy to be an ambassador, pledged her full support to the campaign.
