The RYTHM Foundation, QI Group’s social impact initiative says it will be partnering with the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation to empower 400 disadvantaged women in the Northern part of Nigeria.
Santhi Periasamy, the Head of RYTHM Foundation, said in an interview with newsmen in Malaysia on Monday that it was necessary to train these women to make them useful to their communities.
QI Group is a diversified multinational entity catering to various business lines in lifestyle, leisure, luxury, training, education, property development, management, logistics and e-commerce.
According to her, giving women greater economic empowerment means enabling them to increase their right to economic resources and their control over meaningful decisions that will benefit them.
Periasamy said that women’s economic empowerment also included women’s ability to participate equally in existing markets.
She added that these women needed access to decent work, and control over their own time, lives and bodies.
According to her, giving these women and girls access to education and training can also inspire their husbands to work harder.
She explained that education was one of the most powerful means available for providing women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence needed to participate equally in society.
According to Periasamy, the foundation will be working in four locations in the North with their future partner, the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation.
She said that two of the locations would be in the North-Central, while the remaining two would both be in the North-Eastern and North-Western communities respectively.
Periasamy said that it would select 100 girls and women in each of the locations, bringing the total number of people it would empower to 400.
“Before providing any form of empowerment, the four communities must have a common need for the same intervention but it may, however, be heterogenous with specific needs that may not be critical in other communities.
“So, we have asked our future partner, the Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, to start up a comprehensive ground research, in order to do an assessment and advise RYTHM Foundation on the next steps to take.
“On this project, we will teach the women basic skills, by looking at the resources they have in their geographical locations, as these will determine what kind of training they will get.
“Once we embark on this project, our working partners will expose the women to financial literacy, how to run small businesses such as soap making, farming, textiles, bag making and other crafts skills,“ she said.
Periasamy said that as the foundation engaged in transformative projects in Africa, it would extend its reach to various corners of the globe, touching lives and making a difference in diverse communities.
According to her, the main focus of the foundation remains resolute in advancing education, nurturing sustainable development, promoting social inclusivity, and fostering positive change
She said that by the time the project ends in three years, the women would have had enough money to run and sustain their businesses.
