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AUN, UNHCR, empower 500 female IDPs In Adamawa 

By Emmanuel Ande, Yola
08 December 2017   |   11:16 pm
The American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, Adamawa State, in collaboration with United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), has empowered 500 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in northern and central zones of the state ravaged by insurgency.  Speaking yesterday in Yola while handing over equipment and cash to the benefiting women, the Project Coordinator, Ahmed…

The American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, Adamawa State, in collaboration with United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), has empowered 500 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in northern and central zones of the state ravaged by insurgency. 

Speaking yesterday in Yola while handing over equipment and cash to the benefiting women, the Project Coordinator, Ahmed Mohammed, said the project was part of the university’s humanitarian services to the public. 

Mohammed stated that the women were trained in 17 cooperatives with different trades, including groundnut oil and cake production, pop corn production, poultry farming, fashion designing, buying and selling of agricultural produce, among others.

He maintained that micro-business empowerment carried out by AUN, under the theme, ‘Project livelihoods empowerment intervention,’ is designed in collaboration with UNHCR to empowered returnee IDPs and those still in camps to become self-dependent and discourage them from depending on government and organisations for their survival.

He stated that the businesses would take their minds away from the trauma of Boko Haram attacks and restored their hopes of achieving their goals in life, adding “Instead of giving someone a fish, we at AUN/UNHCR feels it is better to teach the person how to catch fish, so that he/she can eat fish any time he/she wants.”

He disclosed that 300 women and youths were trained in Michika Council, 400 in Mubi North and Mubi South and 300 in Yola North and Yola South, making a total of 1000, but only 500 were eligible due to the requirements to benefit from the scheme. 

In his remarks, the AUN Grant and Contract Administrator, Dr. Liman Audu, urged the beneficiaries to sustain and diversify their operations by not only relying on local markets, but also to create brands for corporate bodies to patronise their products.

He said to ensure that the women succeed in their trades, refresher courses would be organised for them quarterly, followed by his team’s monitoring to assist them in problematic areas of their businesses, noting 50 per cent of the shops rent cost was paid by the AUN and N30, 000 paid into the accounts of each of the 17 cooperatives as their takeoff and running cost to avoid borrowing to run their businesses at the infant stage.

Mrs. Mary Adamu, a beneficiary, commended the donor for their gesture, promising to take advantage of the opportunity giving to them to become employers of labour in the state.

“We are tired of standing in the sun to collect food items from government and private organisations. It makes us look as if we are strangers in our own land and we lose our pride as human beings, because we depend on others to survive.

“But now, AUN and UNHCR have restored our dignity. We will use our hands to eat what we want, the time of standing in the hot sun to collect food is over,” she stated.

Officials of the state government who attended the ceremony commended AUN for giving hope to those that have lost hope in and restoring their dignity. 

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