A non-governmental organisation, Bridge Connect Africa Initiative(BCAI), has recorded significant success in the implementation of the Women Against Violence and Empowered through Sustainability project in Kano State and plans to expand the initiative to reach more beneficiaries.
The project lead, Nathan Bako, disclosed this during a project learning and impact dissemination event organised with support from the French Embassy in Nigeria and Alliance Française Kano.
Bako said the dissemination programme was organised to present the preliminary outcomes of the initiative and obtain feedback from stakeholders to guide the next phase of the project.
According to him, the project, which spans nine months and is expected to end in April, has already made notable progress in empowering women and strengthening institutional responses to gender-based violence.
He explained that the WAVES project operates on three key pillars—capacity building, advocacy and policy engagement, and institutional strengthening.
Under the capacity-building component, Bako said women participating in the programme were trained in business management and supported to build networks among themselves.
“One of the biggest achievements for us is that many of the women who were previously isolated now have a strong support network and improved business capacity,” he said.
Bako added that the project also engaged the Kano State Ministry of Women Affairs and other stakeholders to improve coordination on women’s economic empowerment and the prevention of gender-based violence.
He further stated that gender desk officers in 20 divisions of the Kano State Police Command were trained to provide survivor-centred responses to cases of gender-based violence.
The project, he said, will culminate in a showcase event next month where beneficiaries are expected to display products and achievements recorded during the programme.
Also speaking, the technical partner of the initiative, Eric Andrew of Agro Fixing Consulting, said the project produced several learning materials to support organisations working in women empowerment and agriculture.
Andrew added that the programme had led to visible transformation among participating women, many of whom had expanded their businesses and gained confidence to pursue economic opportunities.
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