Organisations partner to empower women in Nigeria
In a bid to mark the 2016 International Women’s Day, SME 100 Nigeria and Rubies Vocational School are set to host an international Women’s Day Conference for aspiring Nigerian women with an interest in politics, agriculture and technology.
The one-day conference which is scheduled to hold on the 9th of March 2016 at the civic centre, Lagos is themed ‘Pledge for Parity,’ designed to develop and inspire female entrepreneurs in their respective pursues to leave their mark in an otherwise, male dominated sector.
Speaking during the announcement of the event in Lagos, Orode Ryan-Okpu the Executive Director Rubies Vocational School said the conference will inspire women SME owners with new thinking that would facilitate the expansion of their businesses in key growth sectors.
According to her, “We have trained 235 women in rural areas from 2013 and this is the first time we are actually coming to Lagos. For our agric training, it is focused on rural women and the other ones are focused in Lagos because we are partnering with top companies here in Lagos to teach women makeup and baking.
“International women’s day is celebrated around the world on March 8. We bring women who have succeeded in their different careers and different businesses to share knowledge and impact upcoming entrepreneurs, who are looking to succeed in their businesses. The first one we did was in 2014 in Delta state and we had people like Okonjo-Iweala come speak to women on how they can succeed in their careers,” Ryan-Okpu
She noted that what informed this year’s theme is the disparity noticed between man and women in the work place where the men earn more than women yet do the same work.
Ryan-Okpu disclosed that this year, 1000 women will be trained in different skills in Nigeria, where both less privileged women and those interested in acquiring knowledge in their various fields will be trained with the help of companies that have chosen to partner with them on the initiative.
She explained that Rubies Vocational School have existed for nine years, focusing on breast cancer awareness and have given rise to the women empowerment school, an avenue where people can learn and be inspired to pursue their dreams.
Also speaking, Charles Odii, Executive Director, SME 100 Nigeria, said as a partner, they hope to stimulate entrepreneurship among young Africans by identifying and supporting entrepreneurs and enabling communities to reap the transformational benefits of SME participation in the economy.
He said SME 100 is gathering over 500 women who are going to take part of the conference and the company will be launching its 1000 capacity development for women and young entrepreneurs all through the year, 2016.