Payforward Initiative!

Who are we?

Delta Women is a non-governmental organization that is registered in America and Nigeria. It was founded by Elsie Ijorogu-Reed in early 2010 to empower women in the Delta State by guaranteeing their basic human rights. Delta Women is committed to teaching women to become socially, economically, and politically empowered. Its aim is to enable women and girls to become masters of their own life and future by providing health, educational and economic opportunities to better their lives and that of their families, thus transforming communities in the process. Some of the organization’s main activities include:

·         Raising awareness on the dangers of practicing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) through its blog, e-zine, and podcasts

·         Educating adolescents and young girls on the impact of early pregnancy and HIV/AIDS through awareness programs, talks targeting young teens and mothers

·         Raising awareness on sexual harassment through outreach programs particularly in educational institutions and doing government lobbying to help put effective mechanisms and policies in place for dealing with sexual harassment issues.

·         Providing shelter and counselling to rape victims

·         Supporting the Delta State community in whatever way possible by:

·         providing free cervical examinations and free treatments to women with cervical cancer

·         Doing free eye tests and providing free eye glasses to more than 220 people.

What areas do we focus on?

Income Generation, empowering community women through the inculcation of vocational, entrepreneurial and managerial skills, the empowerment of youth and the development of community based values that propel a community towards empowerment and successful development.

What is our project about?

The Reason:

Picture this situation as you read it. A little girl in Adeje fetches water, trying to balance the broken bucket in her tiny hands. As she makes her way home, stones cut themselves into her feet. Her stomach gnaws with hunger. She goes home eventually, but her mother cannot greet her with joy: she must cook to save her family with as little as food that she already has. This little girl spends her time between home and working for home – and every dream she has for her future is a bleak difficulty. In a few years, she would become pregnant even before it is her time to mother a child. She will have no skills and no way of finding her feet to make her own money.

Welcome to Adeje: a place which has tremendous potential, but a lot of it is less recognised and underutilised. The reason? The youngsters in Adeje have economic and social problems. The economic problem is lack of education, employment and comfortable market economy dynamics. The youth is a dominant segment in the population – but there are not enough jobs to absorb them. There is very high unemployment. As a result the youth do involve in illegal activities such as theft, kidnapping or even stealing at a small scale and so on to sustain their lives. Common social problems are lack of community and recreation centres, inadequate social facilities (health, education, and housing).

Poverty is one of the main problems plaguing the Delta State. According to National Bureau of Statistics 2010 Poverty Profile Report, about 112.5 million Nigerians live in relative poverty while 60.9% of the population live in absolute poverty. More than half of those living in acute poverty are women. Women, particularly those in rural areas, face serious challenges such as poor farming mechanisms, low literacy levels, lack entrepreneurial skills, inadequate access to microcredit facilities, limited markets and weak marketing skills. These issues translate into low economic empowerment for the rural woman. Women empowerment is therefore crucial for the eradication of poverty.

The youth and women are the prime victims of the pandemic of economic and social vulnerability. It is essential to act as soon as possible to reverse the deteriorating situation of the youth at least to maintain the sustenance of our generation. Their potential can be useful for the development of the nation if the right amount of attention is paid to them. They could also contribute to attainment of our development agenda that we are hoping to attain. Recognizing this, we do present this proposal to the development partners to fund this project so that the youth can contribute to the betterment of their own life and of the community.

How do we want to do this?

Project goal

The goal of the proposed project is to contribute to poverty reduction through human resources development of women.

Overarching Plan of Action

Objectives:

-          Reach 1000 women and sensitize them on the need to break the cycle of poverty, understand and believe the power within them, and the need to be self-sufficient. 

-          Offer Skills acquisitions training to 300 women.

-          Offer continual education to 50 women

-          Offer train the trainer & mentoring courses to 350 women

-          Provide business start-ups for 100 women

-          Job placement for 200 women

 Activities:

-          7 Community Outreaches in Okpe local government areas, Delta State, Nigeria

-          9 Vocational & Skills Acquisition training: a) tailoring,  b)hairdressing,  c)beading and handcraft d)bridal arrangements,  e) solar technology,  f) Tie and Dye/Soap making,  g) Catering and Cookery h) Computer programing,  i) basic office skills.

-          Night school , JAMB /WASC preparation

-          Train the trainer course

-          Provide necessary equipment for start-up

-          Cv /Resume preparation, mock-up  and job placement

 Expected Outcome:

-          1000 women would realize their true potential and understand the need to be self-reliant.

-          300 women would be equipped with the necessary skills and capacities for self-employment so that they can be productive and responsible members of society.

-          50 women would have passing score in JAMB/WASC examinations to enable them gain admission to higher institutions.

-          350 women would become trainers and would be equipped skills to mentor and empower a minimum of 1 woman each in their community. Thereby breaking the cycle of poverty.

-          100 women would become business owners and self-reliant

-          200 women would be gainfully employed.

Project Objectives:

·         Increase access to formal and non-formal vocational education in Delta State

·         Improve quality of vocational education in selected institutions by having qualified and trained teachers; providing relevant training material; and ensuring a gender-sensitive environment

·         Increase job placement opportunities for women by liaising with labour market analysts, career counsellors and job placement officers

Target population

The proposed project will target a total of 300 rural women in Adeje (including neighbouring

Villages of Okwejeba, Kpokpogri, Opuraja, Okuvo Oviri, Cout, Otomow) Okpe, and LGA

Project Activities

The project will complement the Delta State Government in enhancing vocational education that responds to the state’s growing formal and informal economic sectors. It will provide three (3) types of non-formal vocational training programs; upgrade one (1) women’s vocational training centre to improve their effectiveness and efficiency; and will provide (1) entrepreneurial skills training program. 

Project REPORT

Project Acronym	DW-PFYEA	Project ID	0023
Project Title	Delta Women's Pay forward Youth Empowerment
Start Date	4/22/2013	End Date	6/23/2015
Village	Adeje
Project Manager	Mrs Elizabeth Okolo
Project Coordinator & contact details	Okeh Man-United +2347038878974
Partner Institutions
Project Web URL	www.deltawomen.blogspot.com/p/project.htm

Document

Document Title	Progress Report
Reporting Period	4/22/2013 to 6/21/2013
Author(s) & project role	Elsie Ijorogu Reed
Date	July 28, 2013	Filename
URL
Access	o  Project and Deltawomen Internal			o  General dissemination

Achievements over the Past 3 Months

• 65% Sensitization of youths on the need to acquire skills
• 100% support from the community elders and leaders
• Temporary training centres
• 5.5% Dropout rate

1.    Project Outputs

• Project Plan
• Project WorkPlan
• Budget
• Community elders and leaders project support signatures
• Application Forms
• Beneficiary’s registration
• Trainee Attendance Sheet

2.    Issues

• Trainee absence- One Trainee was absent for one week without excuse from trainer and project coordinator, was issued a warning.
• Trainee dropout- One Trainee was absent for two weeks without excuse from trainer and project coordinator, and did not return after several calls and warning from the project coordinator. Trainee was replaced by another beneficial.

3.    Risk Analysis

      None

4.    Targets for the Next 3 Months

• 0% Dropout rate.
• 98% trainee satisfactions rate

 

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