By Fuli Dickens Isaac
At least seventy women in Central Equatoria State have completed a three-month training program focused on empowering women for sustainable development. The training covered essential entrepreneurship skills, including business management, customer attraction strategies, and financial literacy for providing necessary services within families.
Conducted by the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative with support from Mama Skinny Dipped, the initiative aims to strengthen women in business and enhance their economic independence.
In her statement, Honorable Huda Michael Laila, the Minister of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare in Central Equatoria State, emphasized that the $30,000 USD funding provided by Mama Skinny Dipped is intended to enhance women’s capacity in small entrepreneurship to enable them to support their families and children’s education.
Huda advised the women to consider utilizing the money as a revolving fund, enabling more women within the state and at the grassroots level to benefit from it. She also committed to collaborating closely with the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative to further educate women in all facets of business.
Gama Hassan, the County Director of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, explained that the $30,000 USD grant received from Mama Skinny Dipped originated from the success of her own small business venture that has evolved into a larger enterprise. She outlined plans for the funds to be disbursed to the women to kickstart their businesses.
Hassan stressed the importance of using the funds solely for business purposes and advised the women to maintain harmony within their families while managing their market endeavors.
Margret Apollo, Chairperson of the Central Equatoria State Women Union, commended the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative for their efforts in training women to engage in small-scale businesses for self-support. She encouraged the trained women to pass on their knowledge to other women across the state to promote entrepreneurship.
Apollo urged the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative to conduct more extensive training programs for women, enabling them to become self-reliant in providing for their families, particularly in paying for their children’s education.
Kuchburo Mayik, a women’s representative, highlighted that the training primarily focused on income generation, business language, and practical business skills to equip women for successfully running their ventures post-training.
Mayik expressed intentions to utilize the funds in ways that would elevate their businesses to a larger scale, supporting their households. She emphasized that the three-month training period would empower them to assist their husbands during financial challenges.
According to the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, the training program is part of a three-year grand project aimed at uplifting women through economic empowerment and business skills development.