The Zamfara government has commenced the disbursement of the N6 billion earmarked for its 4-year Youths and Women Empowerment Programmes, according to the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Bala Bello.
Bello disclosed this in Gusau on Wednesday, while receiving Skills Acquisition materials donated to the state government by Reaching and Empowering Adolescents to Make Informed Choices for Health (REACH), project of the Save the Children International, an NGO.
REACH is a three-year project funded by Global Affairs, Canada, implemented by Save the Children International, in three northern states.
The SSG said that the state government had initiated women empowerment programme under the office of the First Lady and Social Intervention Programme (ZASIP), for youths empowerment.
“Under the women empowerment programme, a total of 134,000 women have been registered, while 6,600 were registered to benefit from ZASIP programme in four years.
“Each of the beneficiaries under women empowerment programme will be supported with N20,000 monthly,
“At the end of every month, we are empowering 2,800 women under this programme,” he said.
He said that under ZASIP programme, a total of 6,600 beneficiaries will be receiving N10,000 monthly.
According to him, the gesture is aimed at supporting unemployed youths and women, and vulnerable individuals to tackle poverty and unemployment in the state.
He said that each of the two programmes would cost the state government N3 billion naira in four years.
He thanked Save the Children for the donation of the skills acquisition materials to beneficiaries of the REACH projects in the state.
In her remark, the Country Director, Save the Children International, Deirdre Keogh, applauded Zamfara government for giving priority to education in the 2020 budget.
“Save the Children is very appreciative of the Zamfara governor’s passion for development, particularly by focusing on education, health, agriculture and social welfare,” she said.
Keogh added that the state’s commitment toward enrolling out-of-school children would contribute significantly to the future development of the state.
“We are hoping to sign an MOU with the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Welfare to further entrench our collaboration and sustainability of the intervention,” she said.
REACH project targets 100,000 adolescent boys and girls between the ages of 10 to 19, in Zamfara, Katsina and Gombe states.
In Zamfara, two local government areas of Kaura-Namoda and Talata-Mafara were selected for the project, targeting over 33,000 adolescents.
The project is expected to improve decision making, access to high quality gender-responsive and adolescent-friendly services, and address sexual and reproductive health risks, among others. (NAN)
