Lagos State Government said 16,000 students have been trained from the 20 vocational skills/acquisition centres in the state, while 820 people living with HIV were equally trained on skill acquisition in the last one year.
The State Commissioner for Women and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), Cecilia Dada, made this known on Tuesday during the 2024 Ministerial Press Briefing to mark the first year of the second term of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, which took place at Alausa, Ikeja, saying that the training was free, while the vocational centres were spread across the six divisions that made up the state, for easy accessibility.
The commissioner noted that the state government, through the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, had provided opportunities for women to excel by giving them vocational training, equipment for their businesses and loan facilities, urging women in the state and Nigeria in general to acquire empowerment skills to become self-reliant and prevent their rights being trampled upon.
She pointed out that the state had a unit that was solely in charge of the skills acquisition, with the centres for the training spread across the three senatorial districts of the state.
The commissioner noted that the objective of the skill acquisition was to create job opportunities for women and young people in order to have means of livelihood and contribute to the state’s economic development.
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On domestic violence, the commissioner disclosed that the state government had a shelter to care for 100 female survivors, where they learned various skills, urging all women going through any form of abuse to speak out whenever their rights were violated by calling 767 to get direct help.
This was just as disclosed that construction of the state’s Domestic Violence Survivors’ Shelter was underway at Agidingbi in Ikeja, saying that the building, which is at about 70 per cent completion, when completed would provide a safe and secure refuge for 100 female survivors of domestic violence in the state for a period of three months.
She noted that the shelter, when completed, would offer temporary housing, psycho-social support, counselling services, legal assistance and resources to help survivors of domestic violence rebuild their lives free from abuse.
The commissioner further noted that in the year under review, 70 men reported cases of domestic abuse against them while 592 females reported same.
