EMPOWERING WOMEN & GIRLS THROUGH SKILLS ACQUISITION....

WHY THE WOMEN & GIRLS EMPOWERMENT/SKILLS ACQUISITION?

The illiteracy rate of the female sex in Nigeria is higher than that of the males. There are cases of high rate of illiterate or semi illiterate young girls who drop out of school and sometimes, end up being used for child labor. There are enormous cases of single mothers, divorcees, and widows who undergo hardship due to lack of economic self- independence. This has limited the ability of women to contribute maximally to development process. Women economic empowerment is low in Nigeria compared to their male counterparts. Many women still live on menial jobs. Most jobs performed by women do not have economic values and it has been observed that resources that are of great importance in the lives of the women for the purpose of meeting their domestic and matrimonial needs are inadequate and not available in most cases.

Domestic facilities are not within the reach of average Nigerians and these problems are subjecting women and girls to undue hardship, and because of the majority of the women’s low level of formal education, they operate mainly in the informal sector to gain their livelihood. A good number of the women and girls have low literacy level and accompanying poor employment prospects which has accounted for their dominion of the informal sector, especially petty trading and farming.

Women economic empowerment involves the ability of women to engage in income generating activities that will enable them to have access to independent income. Experience has shown that financial dependence is one of the key sources of subordination for women. An empowered woman is one that can decide on the welfare of her family, especially on matters like nutrition, health, family planning and education. This participation in the decision making however small, leads to increased self-confidence and self- worth. Income or earnings from the sales of their products for women in particular will help them position their families for the future, and in most cases, the husband is not earning enough to carry the entire family responsibilities. therefore, the wife is advised to help out in order to reduce the pressure on the man. Skill acquisition helps women to contribute meaningfully also in the society and toward nation building. White collar jobs are hard to come by, with too many people chasing and competing for few job opportunities which sometimes lead to “modern job enslavement”. A woman that acquires a skill works for herself at her own pace, helps her family, especially her spouse by taking care of some little financial burdens. Some even turn out to be entrepreneurs and earn more than those who are into some white collar jobs.

CHALLENGES OF WOMEN & GIRLS EMPOWERMENT/SKILLS ACQUISITION

1. Zero support from the governments. We, as a” women & youths empowerment/skills acquisition NGO has never received any support from the Government at any level. we have an understanding that there is very small amount of money voted to be used as funds or grants vis-à-vis the large number of Nigerians classified as poor who need to be empowered through the skills acquisition programmes.
2. Another hindrance to the implementation of these programmes is the untimely release of funds, abuse of resources, and high degree of leakages of benefit to the beneficiaries. Mostly, it is the poor people that feel the impact
3. Government not investing enough on human capital development particularly women and youths through the skills acquisition programmes.
4. Government not releasing enough expenditure on instructional materials and infrastructural facilities in vocational centers approved by the government, such as Eden-I
5. Learning a skill is not enough as some people still have issues setting up business of their own after acquiring skills. A lot of the already trained students usually do not have the financial capacity or enablement to procure their own equipment or tools to work with. Practice leads to perfection they say, learning a skill is on the one hand while, practicing the acquired skill is on the other hand. The government or corporate bodies can support by giving out small loan with zero interest to the less fortunate ones.
6. A lot of women & youths who need the skills and that are so willing to acquire it in order to improve their economic status and that of their family find it difficult to raise the stipend to pay for acquisition. For others, it could be that their husbands are earning so little or nothing at all to sponsor them. There are some  who just do not have anybody to give them this uplift
7. Studies have shown that while small and medium scale businesses hold the key to transforming Nigeria’s economy and tackle extreme hunger and poverty, many enterprises owned by women are not usually reckoned with by corporate institutions as they are often discriminated against in terms of having access to economic and political resources.

THE HOUSE OF EDEN-I

Our ultimate goal is to contribute to the reduction of poverty level by way of creating an enabling environment for our beneficiaries to attain economic self-sufficiency and financial independence through our skills acquisition programmes We put in our best just to ensure that women & girls, particularly the underprivileged and the unemployed in our immediate environment are given the opportunity to acquire and develop skills which require little amount of money to start and that are in high demand. Despite all the challenges, we have resolved to be focused, not to falter, and remain committed to touching the lives of our target groups. This however defines our vision, mission, and objectives. We pray and hope that our organisation will continue to make remarkable strides in the fight against feminized poverty and unemployment even against all odds. We also do hope and expect that the cumulative effect or impact of the quality training at the center will enhance family income, wealth creation and poverty reduction in the lives of our students.

WHY DO WE TRAIN AT LITTLE OR NOTHING?

At Eden-I, we have embarked on what looks like a charitable work, more or less. As it has already been stated, our vision is clearly defined by our commitment to targeting and training the unskilled women, including female youths that fall within our target groups and locality, coupled with the inability of the three tiers of government to provide jobs for more than half of the population of the potential job seekers in the country. So, in view of the above, training the women/ girls for free, or for the little amount they are required to pay helps many to take advantage of our programmes, get empowered and create job for themselves hence, leading to economic self-reliance. Becoming self- employed sometimes leads to entrepreneurship and this can also create jobs for other people to work with. It has been observed that some of these women & girls find it difficult to pay the small amount which is almost nothing.

Most importantly so, we are targeting a society, and focusing on our immediate environment, where women and female youths of low background, housewives, graduates and undergraduates, secondary school students, secondary school leavers, school dropouts, single mothers, divorcees, and the underemployed are empowered by us or the government so that living meaningfully will become a societal norm. And striving more to achieve this will only mean that, government, communities, and society at large will have less challenges in combating criminality, youth restiveness, prostitution, social vices, and economic upheavals. Part of our focus, also is to identify and nurture the potentials in our women and youths through our Skills Acquisition Programmes. Women deserve a better life and orientation, and we, at Eden-I are out to set it right by guiding, training, and offering them counsel on general issues.

THEY SAY, WHEN YOU TRAIN A WOMAN, YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY TRAINED A FAMILY AND A SOCIETY