5,000 Lagos women to benefit from Coca-Cola’s $300,000 Grant as it plans to reduce rural-urban migration
No fewer than 5,000 women from five communities across Lagos state will benefit from the second edition of the Karis and Eleos Hand of Hope Foundation’s women empowerment programme, funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation.
The programme, aimed at reducing the harsh economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, seeks to reduce the migration of rural women to urban areas by empowering them with business and life skills that will elevate them from extreme poverty and encourage their migration back to their local communities.
Announcing this in Lagos on Monday, Coca-Cola and Karis and Eleos Hand of Hope Foundation said the success stories and testimonials from the just concluded monitoring and evaluation exercise confirmed the massive success of the first phase. This informed the rollout of the second edition of the programme tagged ‘Catalyst for Change 2.0’, which The Coca-Cola Foundation will fund through a grant of $300,000.
Karis and Eleos Hand of Hope Foundation is a non-profit organisation that empowers women and girls, especially those living in rural communities with no access to opportunities.
Bukola Bamiduro, Founder/Programme Director of the foundation, said: “We are proud to continue this impactful programme and make a meaningful contribution to the lives of more women and girls in the country. We extend our gratitude to The Coca-Cola Foundation, which has remained steadfast in its commitment to this project.”
Ekuma Eze, Director, Public Affairs and Communications, Nigerian Bottling Company, represented by Jerome Oyebanji, Public Affairs and Communications Manager, Nigerian Bottling Company, noted that “Poverty alleviation and women and youth empowerment remain key priorities for the Coca-Cola System in Nigeria.”
Eze said the Catalyst for Change programme was developed to ensure that these critical areas are addressed in the communities “we call home, and we are truly proud of the results achieved so far.”
As part of plans for a successful edition, Catalyst for Change 2.0 will extend to women and youth in communities across Surulere, Alausa/Agidingbi, Ijora, Agege and Onigbongbo in Lagos for 10 months starting October 4, 2021.
“Empowering women to thrive is a global commitment for The Coca-Cola Foundation,” said Saadia Madsbjerg, President of The Coca-Cola Foundation. “Our ultimate goal is to lift women out of poverty and into lives of self-sufficiency by focusing on those community programmes offering education, skills training, financial literacy and mentoring, such as the Catalyst for Change 2.0 programme.”
The programme plan will adopt two training models, which include hands-on training classes (such as baking, bagmaking, shoemaking, hairstyling, makeup artistry, tie & dye design and production of household cleaning items) and business classes which will provide training around the foundations of running a successful business; personal and product branding; accounting; bookkeeping and finance management; recruiting customers; leveraging social media; accessing loans and grants; gender-based violence and recycling.
During the inaugural programme in 2020, Karis and Eleos Hand of Hope Foundation successfully empowered 5,000 women and girls across five Lagos communities (Sangotedo, Oworonshoki, Ogijo, Iwaya and Magboro communities) with transformative vocational skills while 1,000 beneficiaries were presented with business start-up kits to kickstart their businesses and earn a living. The Coca-Cola Foundation also funded the initiative.
The Catalyst for Change 2.0 programme will use education through skills acquisition as an agent of change in the lives of women in Nigeria. Education is recognised as the most effective tool to tackle large-scale poverty entrenched in various parts of the world. This project seeks to leverage education to help eliminate poverty and inequality, reduce unemployment, raise incomes, and improve living standards.
