No fewer than 65,848 women have benefitted from the Kaduna State Government’s Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme under the present administration, the State governor, Uba Sani has said.
He made the disclosure during the launch of the Women Economic Empowerment Policy at the Women Economic Empowerment Summit, held at the Umaru Musa Yar’adua Murtala Muhammad Square, Kaduna.
The governor said that his administration has “ramped up the implementation of the Kaduna State Women Economic Empowerment Funds (KADSWEF)” in the state.
Furthermore, Sani remarked that his government has also recorded notable achievements in its Social Investment Programs, adding that “65,848 women, out of the total 70,051, benefitted from our Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme.”
According to him, KADSWEF is a unique annual support initiative that provides access to financial resources for women.
“We provided the sum of N200 million in the 2024 Budget for this Fund. So far, 10,786 women have benefitted from this Fund. The government is set to flag off the 4.0 tranche distribution to more beneficiaries, with women drawn from across women’s cooperative groups and associations”, he added.
The Governor also noted that his administration has trained over 5,000 rural/semi-urban women on large-scale rice shelling using modern agricultural techniques in order to increase productivity, improve input processing, maximise profit, reduce labour costs, and enhance product quality.
He further said that over 120 women and adolescent girls have been equipped with various Vocational and Entrepreneurship Development Skills.
In the area of agriculture, the governor said the state made history by carrying out the largest free fertiliser distribution in Nigeria, with women farmers being key beneficiaries. “I approved the distribution of 500 trucks of fertilizer, out of which 240,000 bags have been distributed free to 120,000 smallholder farmers”, he stated.
He explained that his administration is investing in women because doing so is investing not only in the economy but also in the future of Kaduna State, adding that the government is set to intensify efforts in strategic areas to improve the state’s economic landscape.
Speaking at the event, one of the partners in the Women Empowerment Policy, the Development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), noted that there is a critical link between women’s economic empowerment and the prevention of gender-based violence. It, however, urged State governments across the country to domesticate the National Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) Policy as a key strategy.
Speaking through its Director of Partnerships and Communications, Hassan Aliyu Karofi, dRPC noted that empowering women economically strengthens their resilience, reduces vulnerability, and addresses the root causes of violence against women.
Karofi commended Kaduna State for becoming the first to domesticate the WEE policy under Governor Uba Sani’s leadership, describing it as a significant step toward improving the lives of women and fostering safer communities.
The dRPC is supporting eight States in the policy’s domestication, with 11 more states set to begin the process next month, making the initiative a nationwide movement aimed at transforming the lives of Nigerian women.
Other speakers at the event commended the Kaduna State Government under Governor Uba Sani for its numerous economic empowerment programmes for women.
