The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA), has trained 120 women and girls in Sokoto State in vocational skills and provided each beneficiary with N154,000 in start-up capital to establish small businesses.
The initiative covers five local government areas: Sokoto North, Sokoto South, Wamakko, Dange Shuni and Yabo, with the aim of promoting economic self-reliance and improving household livelihoods.
The beneficiaries received training in perfume and fragrance production, bead-making and beadwork fashion design to equip them with practical skills for income generation.
Some participants said the intervention would help them rebuild their livelihoods following job losses, while others pledged to share their newly acquired skills with additional women in their communities.
One of the beneficiaries, Fatima Abdullahi from Amanawa village in Dange Shuni Local Government Area, expressed gratitude for the opportunity, saying the training and financial support would help her become economically independent.
Fatima, a former UNICEF staff member, previously worked at the grassroots level, sensitising residents in remote communities on the importance of polio immunisation and the use of mosquito nets.
She said the vocational training and start-up capital would provide an alternative livelihood following her disengagement from the organisation.
Another beneficiary, Hafsat Bello, also from Dange Shuni, pledged to train other women in her community to enable them to acquire the skills and establish their own businesses.
“I intend to step down the training, and I promise to do that with all sense of responsibility because UNICEF has shown us that we can contribute our quota to the family with the little we are going to be making from these skills,” she said.
Similarly, Idiat Shehu, a beneficiary from Wamakko Local Government Area and another former UNICEF worker, encouraged women and girls to acquire vocational skills to strengthen their financial independence.
She said women could use income generated from their businesses to support household expenses rather than depend entirely on their husbands for financial needs.
“My message to fellow women is for them to learn skills, as they can even use them to be of help to their families, not necessarily waiting for their husbands to provide everything,” she said.
Idiat explained that losing her previous job had initially raised concerns about her financial security but expressed optimism that the newly acquired skills and start-up capital would enable her to establish a sustainable source of income.
“With these skills and the start-up capital given to us, I can confidently navigate, ensure stability and even impact the knowledge gained on others willing to learn,” she added.
The intervention is expected to enable the beneficiaries to translate their vocational skills into viable small businesses, improve their household incomes and extend economic opportunities to other women within their communities.
