Stakeholders call on women’s development to promote the economy | The Guardian Nigeria News
The need for government at all levels to empower women across the country to promote economic development was emphasized.
The Director of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisikka, gave the advice to the Whitefield Foundation program, tagged: “She has the capacity, the position and the equipment ( SHPE) 2020 ”, in Lagos.
She said empowerment is a way to address human rights and development “because it improves both the quality and quantity of human resources available for development”.
The expert, during the launch of the training for some women by the Whitefield Foundation, in partnership with the Coca Cola Foundation (TCCF), urged the participants to acquire the three Cs – skill, ability and character during their training, advised that the project should go beyond skills acquisition to capacity building in business.
Whitefield Foundation executive director Ms Funmi Johnson said although 1,242 women applied, only 700 were shortlisted while 500 were enlisted.
Each of them received grants for their business start-up and would be endowed with professional, business, life and skills skills. She identified the Foundation’s main objective as eradicating poverty in Africa through the provision of quality education, adding that the former group had organized youth empowerment programs, provided free tutoring and technology courses to around 5,000 students and scholarships for needy students.
She said the group is aiming to empower a million women by 2023, noting that African women have a lot of abilities, and if they are not empowered then it is not fair to them, and the world is the loser.
She said: “As a foundation committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, we began by being heavily involved in the education sector with the aim of helping the underprivileged to bridge the knowledge gap.
She thanked the Coca Foundation for their support and urged the beneficiaries to seize the opportunity offered. Lagos High Court Judge Josephine Adenike Coker, who also spoke at the event, advised attendees to focus and take their
career as a journey, claiming that success doesn’t come overnight and, as such, that he has to give the best of himself in his job. Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, head of public affairs and communications, said the beverage giant puts women first because they make up two-thirds of the world’s population and are strong pillars of society.
