The Biola Ariyo Youths and Women (BAYWO) Foundation and partners, recently organized a one-day training session for adolescent girls and young women on community development, leadership skills, and civic engagement, reports ITREALMS.
The event, held at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in Ikeja, targeted young women aged 15-29.
In her welcome address, BAYWO Foundation's Executive Director, Mrs. Abiola Ajani-Ariyo, reflected on the organization's journey since its inception in October 2023.
Despite being a relatively new organization, BAYWO has built on decades of experience working with various organizations on health issues such as tuberculosis, malaria, HIV, and gender-based violence.
Mrs. Ariyo encouraged the participants to seize the opportunity to maximize their potentials, emphasizing that their gender should not limit them.
She also expressed gratitude to the donors who supported the project, including the Global Network of Young People Living With HIV and the Gender Equality Fund under the Global Fund Donor.
The lead speaker, Mr. Evans Enwefah, focused on leadership and advocacy for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW).
He outlined the training objectives, to include strengthening leadership and advocacy capacity among 60 AGYW, increasing awareness of gender rights, civic responsibility, and policy engagement, and building a network of empowered AGYW to lead grassroots advocacy initiatives.
Mr. Enwefah discussed key leadership skills such as participatory decision-making, team building, communication, conflict management, and change management.
He also emphasized the importance of gender equality and equity in leadership, stating that girls and women should enjoy the same privileges and positions as their male counterparts.
On civic engagement, Mr. Enwefah explained that it involves participation in policy change or implementation and community activities.
He highlighted advocacy strategies, including analyzing the policy environment, strategy development, framing the plan, and implementation.
The second speaker, Mr. Tim Adepoju from Tri-Adepoju Peace Foundation, Lagos, presented on advocacy and civic engagement.
He defined advocacy as supporting or promoting a particular cause or policy, which involves influencing decisions, policies, or practices that affect individuals, communities, or society as a whole. Mr. Adepoju outlined various forms of advocacy, including public awareness campaigns, lobbying, community organizing, research and analysis, and partnerships and collaborations.
He also discussed advocacy goals, such as influencing policy, raising awareness, empowering marginalized groups, and promoting social change.
Mr. Adepoju emphasized the importance of advocacy for young people, particularly in enhancing equality and human rights, addressing systemic barriers and challenges, empowering girls and young women to reach their full potential, and fostering positive social change.
In a separate session, Sanitarian Olabisi Daramola from RollBack Malaria, Agege Local Government, discussed preventing malaria and promoting lives through a safer environment in the community.
She highlighted measures to prevent malaria, including clearing drainages, using insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor residual spraying, cutting overgrown weeds, and removing receptacles that can retain water.
The participants benefited from the training, with Precious Olowonyi, a 300-level Industrial Chemistry student at UNIOSUN, expressing that the program broadened her knowledge on being a good leader and gender equity.
Sophia Ameh noted that she learned a lot about leadership skills and identifying stakeholders in her community for advocacy.
The programme included interactive sessions, such as question-and-answer sessions, networking, and group presentations, which provided opportunities for participants to engage and share their experiences.
Gbemi Omotoso/Editor
2 comments:
Well done Mrs Abiola, thank you for the work you do for the society.
Weldone Ma
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