Dewdrop Foundation team paid an advocacy visit to the Igwe’s cabinet in Umuode community, Enugu State on Saturday, November 19th 2022. The objective of the visit was to introduce our 18-month Women Empowerment and Inclusive Governance project to them as one of the key stakeholders in the community, discuss the implementation strategies & expected outcomes and also to solicit the support of the cabinet towards the implementation of the project.
Our project on Women Empowerment and Inclusive Governance was introduced as an 18-month project funded by Oxfam through the Voice program in Nigeria. The project is a consolidation and up scaling of the outcomes of our previous Inclusive Governance project implemented in 2018 with an aim to build the leadership capacities of more women in the community to confidently participate in and take leadership roles, demand for and access resources especially land resources for economic empowerment. The project will be implemented using our GHEEES (Governance, Health, Education, Environment, Enterprise and Security) model for sustainable community development.
The project will adopt the strategy of leadership trainings and workshops for women to impact various leadership skills to them which will enable them to confidently identify the issues which they would want to address for community growth and development under the GHEEES model. This will help them to also track their progress and measure their outcomes. The team extended a formal invitation to the Igwe and cabinet members to the upcoming Inception meeting and also to the leadership trainings that will be scheduled, this is to make them better informed on the project activities and expected outcomes and also enable them to monitor the outcomes.
The Igwe of Umuode HRH Igwe Moses Idenyi – Ode II speaking for the cabinet warmly welcomed the DDF team. He expressed his joy towards the project as it seeks to empower the women and in turn bring economic development and growth in the community. He said the leadership of the community will always be in support of all forms of positive changes that will empower the people and bring about community development. The community no longer waits for growth and positive changes to come only from the men, it is a welcome development that women have the opportunity to become empowered and through their empowerment contribute positively towards community development.
The Igwe and his cabinet pledged to lend their support to the project. The Igwe asked that all cabinet members ensure to inform their wives and other women in their families and encourage them to be a part of the project activities to empower themselves. He asked that our visit serve as a formal invitation to the upcoming inception meeting and leadership workshops to every member of the cabinet. To show his support, the Igwe pledged to use the community town crier as a medium to pass on the information regarding the date, time and venue for the inception meeting once it is scheduled.
Some of the cabinet members asked to know if the project plans to provide women with financial seeds to startup businesses, what is the eligibility criteria for women to participate in the project,
The DDF team appreciated the Igwe and cabinet members on for granting us warm welcome and audience on our visit. Some traditional items were presented as a sign of appreciation.
Outcomes:
• The project was introduced to the Igwe and members of his cabinet. The scope of the project was discussed and implementation strategies to be adopted were also discussed.
• A brief summary of the planned project activities was discussed.
• The cabinet members were informed about the upcoming inception meeting and a formal invitation extended.
• The Igwe and his cabinet welcomed the team and the project and pledged to lend their support to the project.
