*More states to benefit in second phase
Paul Obi in Abuja
The United Kingdom (UK), a United States based non-governmental organisation, Mercy Corps International and Coca-Cola have spent about £7 million to cater for women and Girl-Child education in four states across the country.
Mercy Corps Country Director to Nigeria, Iveta Ouvry stated this in Abuja at the recent Close-Out Dissemination Forum on the project, Educating Nigerian Girls in New Enterprises (ENGINE).
According to Ouvry, “Coca-Cola Company and the UK Department for International Development (DfID) have joined forces to bolster the educational and economic opportunities of marginalised girls and young women Nigeria through ENGINE programme.
“ENGINE has improved the learning outcomes and economic status of 21,162 marginalised adolescent girls in Northern Nigerian states of Kano, Kaduna, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the metropolis of Lagos,” she said.
Ouvry added that “together, Coca-Cola Company and DfID have invested £7 million in the implementation of ENGINE.”
“The investment comes as part of the UK government’s Girl’s Education Challenge and the Coca-Cola Company’s 5by20 Initiative, which seeks to enable the economic empowerment of five million female entrepreneurs across the Coca-Cola global chain by 2020,” the Country Director stated.
Programme Coordinator of Mercy Corps, Rabi Sani explained that the second phase of the ENGINE programme will involve more states across the country.
Sani maintained that the inclusion of the four states was aimed at test running the project and also focusing on the critical areas that needed more attention in Girl-Child education.
Legal, Public Affairs and Communication Director of the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Ltd, Sade Morgan and her Public Affairs Manager, Ifeoma Okoye also made presentations on the Coca-Cola company’s contributions towards the second phase of the project.
The ENGINE project, according to officials was initiated in 2013 and has set up 1050 learning centres where young women receive academic support and entrepreneurship training over nine months period.
Girl-child education and gender empowerment have been identified by analysts as crucial goals and targets towards achieving equitable development in Nigeria under the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The thinking among experts and analysts is that when a girl-child is empowered and educated, she grows up to help cater for her family and children, with the ripple effect being felt across social and generational divides. This also helps to tackle the issue of poverty and inequality, which are major challenges to Nigeria’s development process.
