A total of 34 young women Saturday graduated from a three-month intensive livelihood skills training at Sanyang, Kombo South district. The training was provided by an empowerment organisation call Village Girl Initiative (VGI).
The non-governmental organisation focuses on empowering rural women and girls with resources through education, provision of free, quality and accessible healthcare services and community base sensitization programs.
The training, named young women empowerment project, was funded by the IVLPAA, now the US Exchange Programs Alumni Network-The Gambia with support from United States Embassy.
Awa Sillah, Secretary General of VGI said the training was conducted in collaboration with Sanyang Youth Tesito Association and the Department of Community Development.
“This project was borne out of the realization that young girls and teenage mothers remain vulnerable in our societies and VGI deemed it necessary to equip some of them with life and livelihood skills to boost their self-esteem,” she said.
She explained that the project was constituted to engage girls and young women between ages of 14 to 30, observing that equipping the young women with skills and investing in the training will help them to be economically independent. “This project focus on life and livelihood skills such as tie and dye, soap making and bead design. We expect that the project will give birth to young women startups who are going to engage in setting up their own businesses and employ other youths in the communities,” she said.
Sillah further revealed that the project will also increase the understanding of the girls about the importance of speaking up against gender based violence, providing a space for girls to openly talk about their issues and connect with others to improve their lives.
Muhammed Manneh, president of Sanyang Youth Tesito Association (SYTA) said they have been working with different organizations to bring about development and VGI is not an exception. He described the training as a great initiative and the journey was not smooth since they all have to leave their personal engagements to make the training a success.
