Uchechukwu Nnaike
The Green Girl Company Limited (GGCL) has announced plans to sensitise 10,000 young girls this year, by creating awareness and self-esteem on menstrual hygiene practices.
The company said it is determined to provide the resources and opportunities necessary to improve the social-economic lives of girls and women in Nigeria through its social impact intervention programme, Green Dignity Kit (GDK).
It stated that by streamlining its activities to focus on two core programmes and external partnerships, it has positioned itself as a leading empowerment platform for women.
The Business Head, GGCL, Abiola Jinadu said since inception, the company has impacted 6,020 lives.
She stated that the project falls under the first Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which is to end poverty in all its forms everywhere, and involves the distribution of a collection of items required to help young girls go through their menstrual cycle.
Jinadu said the Dignity Kits contain items like sanitary pads, panty liners, roll-on, hair ruffle, teas, tissue, and hand sanitizers.
“GGCL embarked on this project to bring relief to teenagers and young adults who not only have to deal with the lack of essential sanitary products, but its consequences such as depression, lack of confidence, poor participation, school or work absenteeism and diseases resulting from poor hygiene among others,” she said.
According to her, the pilot project was powered by Polaris Bank and took place in four states: Kwara, Kogi, Gombe and Borno. She said the target was to impact 1,100 girls, but a total of 1,999 were impacted.
She noted that between 2021 and 2022, 3,619 females have already been impacted in the South West (Lagos and Ogun), South East (Anambra) and North Central (Kwara, Kogi, Gombe and Borno).
On the company’s second programme, Green Girl Academy, Jinadu said the programme created an educational app known as ‘Gdemy’ that caters for knowledge enhancement, personalised learning experiences, improved interaction, accessibility to online study material, ease of communication, and most importantly, providing remote access.
Jinadu said the educational app targets females between the ages of 13 and 55, adding that vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self-employed with the requisite skill.
She noted that the Green Girl Academy also runs bi-monthly webinars, Instagram live sessions and a mentorship programme all tailored towards educating females on career and business growth.
On the external partnerships aspect of the company, Jinadu said between May 2022 and December 2022, GGCL contributed to training 120 participants in South-Eastern Nigeria (Abia, Anambra, and Enugu States), in plastic recycling.
She said the project was sponsored by the German Bank and was in partnership with Carbon Afrika and Chicason Group. All participants from six locations within three eastern states went through four modules Plastic Processing (PP), Waste Management (WM), Environmental Protection and Management (EPM), and Entrepreneurial Development (ED).
Jinadu further said the objectives of the project were to equip trainees with the skills required to identify recyclable plastics, sort them and process them to be sold to companies that recycle plastics or produce new materials from recycled waste.
“To equip the trainees with the knowledge required to market acquired skills and make a business out of it; to provide trainees with certificates to boost their employability and credibility in the field.”
She said the company is willing to create and/or organise CSR projects for organisations tailored to any female demographic and urged them to follow www.greengirlcompany.com and other social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
Jinadu added that other objectives of the project include field trips and excursions for the trainees to JOBITECH Institute, ZEK Industries, and the ASWAMA dumpsite and working with NABTEB to issue certificates; recycling hubs are currently being built in their different states so after the training, the participants can start their businesses.
