Mercy Corps, Kindling Hope to empower 4,750 girls in Kaduna

@SimonEchewofun Mercy Corps, Kindling Hope Across Nations (KHAN) Initiative in partnership with the Kaduna State government has launched the second phase of Educating Nigerian Girls In New Enterprise (ENGINE II) to empower about 4,750 marginalised girls.

ENGINE funded by the UK Department for International Development Fund (DFID) is aimed at improving the lives of the less privileged in-school and out-of-school girls in Nigeria.

The Executive Initiative, Kizito II Director Andah of KHAN at the programme’s launch in Kaduna said over 24,000 marginalized girls within ages 16 and 19 were empowered in the first phase.

“Building on the success of its first phase, ENGINE II aims at helping all marginalized Nigerian girls to transform their future by fulfilling their potential in education and in work , while giving outreach and specialized support to ENGINE I girls,” he said.

The National Programme Manager of ENGINE II, Shweta Shah said the second project is intended to improve social, literary, and entrepreneurial skills of the girl-child, adding that “the girls were selected on the basis of marginalization criteria.”

“Some of them are extremely poor and can’t afford to go to school, some due to poverty pulled out of school and are sent to hawk on the street.

“We are working with government on policies implementation to remove the barriers which girls are facing in school and out of school, to address issues like poverty, access to quality education and facilities in school,” Shah explained.

The State Commissioner for Education, Jaafaru Sani said the programme will enable remarkable improvement in number of girls’ enrolment for primary, secondary and tertiary education.

He said the state government is currently restructuring schools to make them more conducive for the students.