300 women benefits from Pin/peace Direct empowerment, Kano, Jos

Peace Initiative Network (PIN), and Peace Direct, a United Kingdom based Not-for-profit Organisation, has empowered 300 women and youths with functional skills and other forms of employable competencies in conflict areas in northern Nigeria.

The programme was executed in the two conflict prone cities of Kano, in the North West, and Jos, in the North –Central. The bulk of the beneficiaries were provided three (3) month training in sustainable micro-businesses, such as: Tailoring, Shoe and Bag Making, Phone Repairs, Hair Dressing, and Vulcanizing.

At the end of the training programme, each of the beneficiaries were provided with working Kits in the area where they were trained. Those who learnt tailor were provided with sewing and waving machines each, those who major in shoe and bag making were given the required tools for starting a business along that line.

Those taught Phone repair, were provided with implements for their trade, and those that acquired Hair Dressing capability were given Hair Dryer, Head Washing Basin, and other working tools. While, those who acquired skills in Vulcanizing were also provided working tools and a Generator-set each.

In addition, several youths and women, who were idling away, without any means of sustainable income in the two cities were also provided with Grinding-machines, for the purpose of generating daily stream of income.

One of the success stories of the programme, is that the beneficiaries have been empowered and moved away from being a potential hands to be recruited by extremist groups for the purpose of causing conflicts in their communities, to being functional members of their communities.

The impact of the programme is that, the beneficiaries now have basic skills to earn a living, and their peace- building skills sharpened which put them in a position to be an active agents of resistance to conflicts in their communities.