Inauguration of the WFWP Akwa Ibom Chapter in Nigeria

Written by Tamara Starr

On August 26, WFWP Nigeria inaugurated the Akwa Ibom Chapter with around 50 guests in attendance. National President Mrs. Risa Smart, gave a speech where she conveyed how “…this excited engagement of civil society sets the tone for the years to come. The time for action is now. Discrimination and violence against women and girls have no place in the 21st century. But change is possible and change is happening.”

Furthermore, she declared “solidarity with all members, friends and well-wishers, and taking a stand for defending the right to education, the right to prosperity among members.”

During the event, there were presentations about the many positive developments that were being introduced to the public.

“Now we must take on the challenge of implementation and accountability in WFWP Nigeria,” Mrs. Smart said. “It is our hope that our contributions and loyalty will result in action on the promises we have made to sustain the activities of our great organization, and on the international agreements that we have made to do our best.”

She concluded her remarks by mentioning that “change is possible, change is happening.” She then presented strategic measures that the new chapter was going to implement: (a) developing self-importance in women and (b) implementing the strategy.

Within WFWP Nigeria’s work plan, the chapters want to provide assistance packages (knowledge and capacity building) to members and partners in all the chapters, based on innovative solutions and tailored to the specifics of the sub-urban areas. WFWP members hope that this will lead to a more effective process of general strategy formulation and development towards the achievement of our goals.

Among the goals, WFWP Nigeria is also hoping to launch agricultural projects which would include:cassava, maize, yam, groundnut, fish farming, piggery farming, poultry farming, water leave, vegetables and pepper farming. There will also be a Skill Acquisition Program that will help women learn more about bead making, hand bags (sewing), braiding / weaving / hair dressing, baking (confectionaries), chin-chin making, and fashion design (dress making).