By: Kemi Peters

No fewer than three hundred and twenty four thousand women have been targeted to benefit from the Nigeria For Women Project (NFWP), an initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria with the support of the World Bank.

The national Project Coordinator, Mrs Ruth Peter Mshelia made this known while presenting her welcome address at a media workshop held at Denis Hotel, Wuse, Abuja.

Mrs Mshelia said one state in each of the Geo-Political zone of the nation have been selected to participate in the pilot program with a target of 54,000 women in three designated Local Government of the state.  

She stated that the project was designed to empower rural women, through building social capital, livelihood programs, innovation and partnership, project monitoring, evaluation and learning, adding that  the project mode of operation included guiding women to organize themselves into Women Affinity Groups ( WAGs) in the wards where it was being implemented.  

These WAGs according to her were furnished with training on savings and credits, financial education, business skills, as well as gender and life skills, saying these trainings were followed up with continuous mentoring by the Institutional Capacity Building team at the State and Local Government levels with the direction of the Federal Project Coordinator Unit.

The representative of World Bank, Mr Michael Ilesanmi while speaking through a virtual call said the project was set to begin disbursement of individual grants to some of the states that were ready, citing Niger state as example being the first state to begin disbursement of individual grants by first week of March. 

He said the Federal  Government was doing all within it's power at empowering women for more productivity, adding that already four states of  Abia, Kebbi, Niger, and Tararba have exceeded the two thousand WAGs target with Ogun having achieved 83 precent of the target as at the end of year 2021.

On visitation to one of the WAGs in Niger state, Yeye Dulo WAG, Tufa Kampani Community Area of the state, the women testified of improved lives and livelihood as a result of the training received as well as the loaning system embarked upon in each of their WAG. 

Mrs Grace Kakawusa Yisa who spoke on behalf of other women expressed delight  at the level of improvement in their businesses as a result of the financial education, business skills and the likes, they have received from NFWP  teaching through their Ward Facilitator.