CSOs Commend EU-ACT for Empowering Women in Oredo

By Lucky Isibor 

A consortium of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Idia Renaissance, Society for Awareness and Family Initiative (SAFI),  Christabel Otueroro Foundation and Smiles Africa International Youth Empowerment Initiative have  commended the European Union and the British Council for training and empowering women at Utagban Community in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State under the European Union Agents for Citizen Driven Transformation (EU-ACT) programme financed by the European Union and implemented by the British Council. 

Making the commendation at the exhibition and graduation ceremony of trainees on Friday, 24 March at Utagban, on behalf of the consortium implementing the "Reducing Gender Based Violence (GBV)in Edo South Senatorial District" project financed by the European Union; being implemented by the British Council, the project manager of Idia Renaissance, the lead organisation in the consortium,  Mr. Moses Urowayino pointed out that the skill acquisition training was part of the implementation of the project having discovered that poverty and lack of economic empowerment were the drivers of gender based violence in homes.

While noting that empowering a woman translates to empowering a nation, Urowayino said, "We want to appreciate the European Union the British Council and EU-ACT for empowering women. The purpose of this empowerment is to solely help reduce gender based violence. As we create awareness and as we look into the issue of gender based violence, we discovered that the root of the cause of gender based violence is money. When our women are empowered, some of the little issues that bring about arguments, which is money that cause conflict will not be there and so gender based violence will be greatly reduced. Moreover, it is a global agenda that when women are empowered, a nation is empowered. So, these are the issues that led to the project as empowering women will help to reduce poverty and consequently reduce gender based violence which ultimately ends in achieving our goal".

On how to sustain the programme after the project close out when there will be no funding from the European Union, Urowayino said, "The various beneficiaries have been placed in a social platform where they can be encouraged, and if they have issues they discuss among themselves and solutions are meted out".

Welcoming guests and the graduating trainees, the Executive Director of Society for Awareness and Family Initiative SAFI, the anchor organisation for the empowerment programme at Utagban, Abraham Inosezilo Obode, thanked the European Union, the British Council and the EU-ACT for providing him and members of the consortium the platform to contribute to the development and empowerment of women at Utagban community. 

While thanking residents and members of Utagban community, Obode appealed to them to contribute to towards the renovation of the community primary school in the area whose roof has been blown off by storm, adding that the renovation as embarked on by SAFI will not be funded by the EU-ACT, but by individual donations. 

"It has always been my dream to contribute to the development of the society and the European Union and British Council provided that platform to enable us work in this community. Today we're presenting starter packs to fifty persons we have trained.

"The beneficiaries are happy, the community is happy. The community rented this hall for us, they gave us chairs free, they brought a Dee Jay to supply music and public address system to show how excited they are as their children are being empowered".

While donating a bundle of zinc towards the renovation of the community primary school, a resident of Utagban community, Pharm. Augustus Ihenyen, an Assistant Director in the Edo State Hospital Management Agency, commended the European Union, British Council and the consortium of CSOs for the empowerment noting, "It is heart warming that a project started in August has come to fruition and you can see the evidence that people have benefited from this project".

As part of the implementation of the "Reducing Gender Based Violence in Edo South Senatorial District " project, the consortium of CSOs implementing the programme embarked on the training of fifty women at Utagban, Agbodo, Oghede, Evbonagbon and Evbodia communities as a way of economically empowering the women in the realisation that poverty and lack of economic empowerment is the major driver of domestic violence and gender based violence. 

One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Bridget Osadolor who said she was trained in tailoring, thanked the European Union,  British Council and SAFI for giving them the training and the starter packs. She said she was given a sewing machine and assured that she will make good use of it to open a fashion design shop and use the proceeds to assist her family.

Beneficiaries were trained in hair dressing, tailoring, cake making, make-up/cosmology and computer repairs. At the end of the training session they were given starter packs ranging from sawing machines, electric dryers, laptop computers and accessories.