Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in collaboration with the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has empowered internally displaced persons (IDPs), residing at Yimitu settlement in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) through training and handing over of groundnut oil processing equipment to them.
The director-general of FEMA, Alhaji Abass Idriss during the handing over of the machine to the IDPs, commended JICA for its numerous interventions in IDPs settlement aimed at improving their lives.
Idriss said that since the IDPs lacked basic amenities like potable water, healthcare facilities, and schools, such interventions would improve the well-being of the beneficiaries.
He appealed to residents of the settlement to utilize and manage the installed equipment judiciously for economic development, charging them to protect the equipment and to cascade the training to other women in the settlement.
The managing director of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Mr Alkali Muhammad also commended JICA for empowering women because of the important role they play in society.
He urged the women to use the skills acquired and the equipment to generate income and live life with more freedom.
Also, the representative of JICA, Mr Yuzurio Susumu said their intention was to enable the IDPs to fend for themselves.
He informed that JICA has empowered over 500 IDPs on rice paddy and soap making, assuring them that JICA would continue to strengthen the capacity of IDPs to improve their livelihoods.
The woman leader of the IDPs’ settlement in Yimitu, Halita Joseph said the programme would greatly improve the wellbeing of the women, adding that they had earlier been trained in soap making.
