Delta girl-child empowerment scheme solution to gender discrimination, poverty, low self-esteem - Okowa
Delta Governor, Sen. (Dr) Governor Ifeanyi A. Okowa on Thursday said his administration’s passion for girl-child empowerment was predicated on the need to break away from issues of gender discrimination, poverty and low self-esteem among young women.
He stated this at the graduation of beneficiaries of the 2021/2022 Girls' Entrepreneurship and Skills Training Programme (Project GEST) at the Events Centre, Asaba.The governor said that empowerment of the Girl-child was essentially to uplift the economic and social status of traditionally under-privileged girls in society, noting that empowerment of the girl-child from ages 18 to 30 had become a major public policy issue.
"Six months ago, the second cycle of trainees under the Girls’ Entrepreneurship and Skills Training Programme (GEST) commenced.
"It gives me great pleasure today to witness their inauguration into the world of business and entrepreneurship.
"It is instructive that this event is taking place 48 hours after the 2022 International Women’s Day, with the theme `Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow’.
"The focus is on how to “Break the Bias” that women face every day in the global marketplace and thereby accelerate gender parity, equality, inclusion, and diversity.
"This is in tandem with the philosophy of GEST, which is to tackle the issues of gender discrimination, poverty, early/forced marriage, identity crisis, social and parental pressure, poor life skills (communication, decision making, goal setting) and low self-esteem, among young women.
"Today, as we resource and unleash 814 young women into the business world, we can beat our chests that this administration is recording significant milestones in breaking the bias against women in business," he said.Okowa urged the ``GESTpreneurs’’ to break free from the mindset of mediocrity, advising that to excel in the marketplace, they must make quality products and excellent service delivery their unique selling points.
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