Ekiti State First Lady, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, has launched the Obirin kete Empowerment Programme aimed at empowering and building capacity of women in the state.
The programme, which was launched on Monday, is in collaboration with the Ekiti State Office of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Erelu Fayemi explained that the Obirin Kete women empowerment programme projects a future where Ekiti women are prosperous, empowered, productive and engaged.
She noted that the Obirin Kete tour embarked upon by her office in September 2019 provided an opportunity to empower many women with grants for business across the 16 local government in the state.
“A common complaint received from the women is the lack of engagement with communities at grassroots level, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, as leaders were not able to visit their communities due to the restrictions in place. This informs the establishment of the Women Empowerment Teams for each local government which were inaugurated on September 21st and 22nd 2020.
“The Women Empowerment Teams in all the local governments will support my efforts (and those of the government) with monitoring, timely information dissemination and advocacy on areas such as Economic Empowerment through Obirin Kete Ward Cooperatives, Monitoring the impact of government policies on women and Support for Gender-Based Violence Committees at LGA level.
“Other areas include Support for Keep Girls in School Initiative, advocacy against Female Genital Mutilation, access to Primary Health Care at Community Level, access to Agricultural Opportunities, HIV/AIDS Awareness, COVID19 Awareness amongst women, Care for the Elderly Programs and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programmes (WASH),” she said.
Erelu Fayemi identified the Women Empowerment Teams in all local government to include female political office holders; wives of local government chairmen; female councillors; community development officers; female house of assembly members; forum of women in leadership members (FOWIL); Forum of spouses of Ekiti State Officials (FOSESO); and the Women Associations and Networks.
The First Lady explained that the flagship project of the women empowerment programme will be the Obirin Kete Cooperatives.
She explained that there would be two Obirin Kete Cooperatives in each ward, which means there will be a total of 354 cooperatives to start with.
“They will comprise women of good standing nominated by the WET teams in the respective local governments. The beneficiaries of the cooperative programs should be poor and vulnerable women who have identified a means of livelihood they want to pursue.
The Local Governments Gender Based Violence (GBV) Committee to be led by the wives of local government chairmen was also inaugurated at the event.
The First Lady encouraged those who are yet to inaugurate the committee in their local governments to make sure they do so before the close of the Global 16 Days of Activism on December 10th.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mariam Ogunlade, in her welcome address, described the First Lady as a leader who has laid a good legacy for others to follow.
She expressed optimism that the programme aimed at raising entrepreneurs in the State will be a success.
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