Stakeholders at a Consultative Worship on Standardisation of Private Shelters and Safe Homes
By Angela Atabo
Stakeholders in the humanitarian sector have called for the harmonisation and standardisation of shelter homes operations with accordance the provisions of Regulation 2019.
They made the call at a Consultative Workshop on Standardising Private Shelters and Safe Homes –Northern Region organised by Palladium with other stakeholders in Abuja.
Abdulganiyu Abubakar , National President, Network Against Child Trafficking Abuse and Labour(NACTAL-Nigeria), said that the meeting was a stakeholders’ engagement on the regulation and management of private shelters and homes in Nigeria .
According to Abubakar, private shelters and homes are institutions that provide care for survivors, victims of trafficking, abuse and exploitation.
He said: “We are here today to interact between the government of Nigeria and CSOs from the northern part of Nigeria on how to ensure that all shelters and private homes meet the minimum standard of care.
“We are dealing with human beings, we are dealing with lives, so there should be minimum standard for operations to ensure that we respect the dignity of human lives .
“So, by the end of today, it is expected that all the organisations would have a sheer understanding of the minimum requirements for the operationalisation of shelters and care homes in Nigeria.’’
Abubakar advised the stakeholders to be driven by passion as well as commitment and ensure they adhered to all the rules and regulations governing the establishment and management of such homes.
He also urged them to work in close collaboration with the government of Nigeria and other relevant agencies.
He added: “Regulation 2019 just came and NAPTIP is trying as much as possible to ensure that CSOs and private individuals running these homes comply with the provisions of these regulations.’’
Abubakar said that NACTAL is a network of CSOs all over Nigeria working very closely with NAPTIP to ensure that its members operate within the confines of the laws.
Ms Lydia Odeh , Chief of Party, Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE), assured the stakeholders of support towards their activities.
Odeh said that the ultimate goal was to provide quality care to survivors.
She said: “What we are really trying to do is to aggregate as much input as possible so that as NAPTIP goes back to review some of these procedures that they are putting in place to support the work that you are doing actually has your input in it .
“Whatever works the government is doing in this area ;whatever work that you are doing as private operators, the ultimate goal is that we are providing quality care to the survivors.
“The project is time-bound, it is on till 2025, so it’s an opportunity to leverage our resource, leverage the kind of alliances that we have and the kind of reach that we have to really drive this project to where it can go.’’
Mr Arinze Orakwue, Director of Training and Manpower Development, NAPTIP commended Palladium for orgnising the workshop.
Orakwue said that the workshop was a testimony of the commitment of Palladium to make sure that standardisation of shelter operations was achieved.
He said that the SCALE project was of critical importance to NAPTIP’s mandate and its effort to deepen participation of the society.
Orajkwue said: `We all know that this issue is core to the work that NAPTIP does, rehabilitation is not just one of the departments, rehabilitation is critical because shelter is part of rehabilitation.
“NAPTIP is here to guide, listen and learn because it is a workshop ;the purpose is to generate protocols for standadisation of shelter.
”This is to ensure that anytime you see it you will know that what obtains here, is what should be obtained here.
“We don’t want haphazard issues, we want to have a central theme that guides our operations that leads us into the things we do.’’(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
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Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani
