Funding from government’ll optimize our productivity –Patricia Sukore

Patricia Sukore is the founder of   Patricia Sukore Foundation for Women and Children. In this interview with ISAAC NGUMAH, she talks about the foundation, among other issues. Excerpt:

What is your organization all about?

Our organization, Patricia Sukore foundation for women and children advocates for the rights of women and children. We are also against SGBV and we tackle this especially by advocacy and awareness. We offer pro-bono legal services to women and children who have been abused one way or another. Other areas were we work is the up-skilling of the female gender for sustainable living, giving of start up grants to women with little or no means of livelihood, and offering college scholarships to merit candidates amongst others.

 How long have you been running your organization?

Since 2003, it was formerly called Succour for Women and Children before it’s registration in 2015 when it was named Patricia Sukore foundation for women and children. So, technically, we have been running it under its new name for eight years now.

 How do you defend the defenceless?

We do this by our advocacy and awareness strategies. We also offer the less privileged, whose right have been violated or infringed upon, free legal services. There are also times we refer some cases to Alausa Ministry of Justice, under the Citizens’ Right department. We have various agencies there dealing with issues that affect women, there is the Public Defender agency, the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, there’s also the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Department which has areas of work aligned to ours. So, depending on the severity of the case, we sometimes do referrals.

Who are your sponsors?

Our sponsors are mainly individuals, and sometimes they are institutions of learning, these institutions of learning come very handy when we have to run seminars and conferences in the area of awareness, civic responsibilities and even skill acquisition. In the whole of last year, we were in partnership with Women’s Health and Right project, who took most of our staff and members through some of the fundamentals of Human and children’ s right under Lagos State laws and ways in which citizens can actually report issues of domestic violence, even as observers.

 Can you tell us about grants and scholarship awards?

Although we need funding to get this really functional, we have in the eight years of our inception been able to provide school fees for a few children from less privileged homes.

 What are the issues related to women and children that you do address?

We deal with issues as regards Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) this include Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), where an important part of a female child or adult is mutilated or cut off, in their own words, they’re preventing the child from being promiscuous (I am a living survivor). This act leads to excessive bleeding and could result in mortality of the victim. Domestic Violence is another issue that is frequently brought to us. Because of the patriarchial nature of Africa most women are treated badly by their spouses or partners. Many wives are badly treated because they are not financially independent, and many others for no known reason. Children issues are also brought to us, mainly by third parties who witnessed the right of a child being infringed upon. These cases are really on the increase in our clime because of the lack of awareness in so many parts of the country

Can you tell us about your empowerment projects?

Our empowerment programmes are to upskill women. After gaining some skills, our organization gets funding for them to start up a business for the purpose of sustainability. Among the empowerment programmes that we have are: Fashion Design, everything ICT to computer programming, Hair Styling, Adult Education, Entrepreneurship education and many others.

How many projects have you executed through your NGO so far?

Every year since the inception of this foundation, we usually have about three projects executed on the average, alongside our normal day to day legal and social services as related to SGBV and Domestic Violence issues.

 How many communities and states have you been able to reach out to?

We work all over Nigeria. This has been made possible through the use of social media, but we only have our physical office in Lagos State. Lagos is a large state, so, our physical reach and presence has been in Lagos so far.

 What do you want government to do to support your NGO?

Well, basically funding. This because most of the cases we are privileged to handle are from women that have been abused; and most of these women, you’ll discover, are not financially buoyant to pursue a case in court. Although, Lagos State has provided an avenue for abused women to get funds for domestic violence issues, we also want the government to look into funding civil society organizations because there’s a lot these organizations are doing.

For instance, the awareness of rights that is been spread now is courtesy of the civil society organizations, and many of us are working full time as Social Workers. So, for the work of Civil society organizations to have it’s full and positive impact in this nation, there should be a yearly budgetary allocation to civil society organizations working in the field of SGBV. Funding from government will definitely optimize our productivity in Nigeria.

 Can you tell us about your awareness so far and how do you create it?

We create it by going into the communities with pamphlets and books. We have several booklets earmarked for this purpose. Some of these booklets and educational placards were also provided during the period of our partnering with Women and Health Project last year. We also organize seminars and symposiums for educating on inherent rights.

Aside using physical materials, we also have our website. Additionally, we utilize the expansive reach of the various social media platforms.

 What are your testimonies through your NGO?

Well, testimonies abound. About one hundred and fifty women have been able to start businesses with our funding. We are proud to have been able, by the grace of God help about three hundred and twenty women gain the skills that will further enhance their means of livelihood.

We give God the glory we have also been able by our timely intervention averted what would have resulted in the death or physical disability of our clients who have been living under the yoke of domestic violence. Twenty women have been privileged to benefit from our pro-bono legal services, and several others have benefitted from our psychosocial and Health services.

It has been a bitter-sweet experience. Bitter knowing that there are so many women out there that have not heard about our organization and there are so many women that are still suffering not knowing that they can still report these cases. Sweet experience because of the cases that have been successfully done; sweet because of the women that have been empowered. I am really happy to see women that have been empowered living their lives and able to impact others and tell them about us.

 What inspired you to have started an NGO?

Generally, I love helping people. When I was a child, I was a victim of Female Genital Mutilation. So, while I was growing up, I said to myself that if I can help it, no one would go through my kind of experience; because it is like one is a living dead anybody that has experienced Female

Genital Mutilation cannot live a normal life. I could say that was the first thing that encouraged me to go into it this field.

I am also a lawyer; I graduated from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State in the year 2000. I attended Enugu Law School in 2001. So, I could say because of the ill I see in the society against women, the domestic violence targeted towards the Female Gender that I see in the society was what mostly made me go into this area of defending women and children. I just knew that I needed to do my quota to help the female gender in the society.

 How do you manage two professions; being a lawyer and also running an NGO?

I will say that both of them are interwoven; without the knowledge I have in law I am not sure I will be able to function effectively as a social worker because many of the cases that brought to us need legal assistance. So, if I don’t have that background in law, I wouldn’t be able to advise in the legal aspects of whatever cases that are brought to my table.

For a better society