Group equips 150 gender- based violence survivors with vocational skills
THE joint EU- UN Spotlight Initiative has trained and economically empowered 150 Gender- Based Violence survivors in vocational training on culinary arts, fashion design, make- up, event planning, decoration, and baking. While 80 of the women were trained in Abuja, 70 were trained in Lagos. The beneficiaries drawn from Lagos had a graduation ceremony last week, where they showed part of the skills they were taught.
At the ceremony, all the beneficiaries got working tools to aid their operations.
The graduation ceremony is an output of the livelihood pathway programme in marking the 16 Days of Activism, which places strong emphasis on human rights, and the need to empower women and girls to be independent economically.
Country Director, Foundation for Resilient Empowerment and Development ( FRED), Mrs Rosemary Echewe said the The Livelihood Pathway Programme for Gender Based Violence survivors and vulnerable women and girls is a sustained and proactive intervention to empower women and girls to eliminate poverty and violence in Nigeria under the Spotlight Initiative funded by the European Union and United Nations.
“This is our second graduation ceremony, we had one last year. In Lagos, they are 70, Abuja 80, totaling 150. Last year, we graduated 87 in Abuja and Lagos.
“The tools are a range for each of the skills trained on. For shoemakers, it is a range of all the things she needs to start operation, same for bakers, fashion designers. We are giving all that they need to start up aside from the physical building. It is all the tools needed.”
Echewe said her organization hopes to increase monitoring to ensure the good use of the skills and tools given, especially as the beneficiaries are expected to train girls and women in their communities.
“They are going to have a mandate on the number of women they are to train every quarter and they will have interns attached to them to train, part of efforts to make sure they are using their tools. We will be visiting and monitoring.”