Keeping with its mission to provide support for sustainable economic ventures for indigent widows in rural communities, Hands of God Widows Support Initiative is facilitating a skills acquisition program for identified widows in the Naraguta area of Jos-North local government area in Plateau State.

Twenty indigent widows have been identified to benefit from this program and they will be trained in the business of liquid soaps, sanitizers, disinfectants, and dishwaters. The training will be thoroughly practical and hands-on. The participants will also go through a business clinic where they will be taught financial literacy and skills to manage their small businesses.

In line with SDGs 1 (eliminate poverty) & 8 (create decent work and economic empowerment), we hope this program spurs these women into more empowered and economically active citizens.

Our goal is to continue to support more widows to bring them out of the poverty loop so they can fend for themselves and their dependent children.

In Africa, widows are made to go through inhuman cultural practices and are even denied the right of inheritance upon the death of their spouse. Little wonder it is reported that one in every 10 widows lives in extreme poverty in Africa.

While acknowledging the existence of legal frameworks like the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) described as an international bill of rights for women but there seems to be a lack of will to enforce these laws.

For Phranklin Audu, the Executive Director, of Hands of God Widows Support Initiative, this is just one of the ways we bring succour to these often-neglected members of society. Like we often say at HOGWIN, widows matter too and we call on government and society to pay more attention to their plight. With findings showing that widows may lose up to 75% of support upon the death of their husbands, it behoves us as a community to adequately cater to their needs.

Delmwa Gogwin, HOGWIN program coordinator, North-central, said this training being a first from HOGWIN in Northern Nigeria, special attention was given to ensure the women are business-ready. She said the active participation of the widows was a delight to watch. The coordinator who took the women through the marketing strategy session said after this training the women were already strategizing on how to work in groups and building partnerships to get their products market-ready.

Mrs Tabitha Kankani a beneficiary of the program was almost to tears as she said for a while now, she had been thinking of how to help herself without becoming a burden to anyone, and this initiative came at the time she needs it the most. She said now that she has learned these skills and how to package her products for business, she and her children are going to soar. Hajiya Safiya Salau another beneficiary said what stood out for her is the balance between Christians and Muslims in this training. She said they will join hands as sisters and build businesses.

At the end of the training, the widows were overjoyed as they received their certificates of participation and thanked the organizers of the program.