By Sani Sulaiman
In an effort to promote sustainable development goals (SDGs) and reduce unemployment rate among Nigerians, especially in slum communities, Prime Center for Citizens Empowerment and Development will be training over one hundred and fifty unemployed women and youth through her program ” Rural Entrepreneurship Development Project.
The beneficiaries will be trained on various skills that includes fashion design, ICT, Beauty Art, Cinematography and graphic, agribusiness, as well as Catering among others.
The project, which is a six months skill development program that targeted at women and youths in the informal sector within the slum and rural dwellings also aimed at impacting the rural communities which most times are sidelined and forgotten due to location.
The project also has three major components and five phases that comprises skills acquisition and empowerment, peace building and family mediation, as well as Rural Enterprise funding /financial education etc
The phases of the project are need assessment, mobilization, project orientation as well as monitoring and evaluation.
Speaking on the project in an interview with our reporter, Executive Director of Prime-CCED Ruth Oyediya Kalu said that the organization which is a non-governmental had conducted need assessment on employment and unemployable skills in slum areas of FCT.
She maintained that Kabusa community was used in the assessment carried out where they found out that the area is densely populated and many women lack employable skills in the area.
Ruth explained that their findings also shows that the community is lacking access to information and financial support system as well as high rate of gender based violence and drug abuse
She noted that it was in view of this, the Prime-CCED came up with the Rural entrepreneurship program in order to give back to rural/ dwellers because through economic empowerment interest, trust, confidence and cordial relationship built.
According to the Executive Director of Prime-CCED, Ruth Oyediya Kalu, in mobilizing for the second phase of the project, Prime-CCED carried out advocacy visits to traditional and religious leaders within the the area where about one hundred and forty people participated in the orientation program that was held at Kabusa Chief’s palace.
She further revealed that the orientation which was facilitated by the project management team was a real life changing experience as many women and youths were excited for such empowerment program.
The third phase of the project will be a six months trade attachment based skill trainings stage scheduled to commence May 2019.
