The President of the Coca-Cola Foundation, Saadia Madsbjerg, has said that the foundation is partnering with Whitefield Foundation to launch the ‘EQUIP initiative’ targeted at driving women and youth empowerment in vulnerable communities in Lagos, Abuja, Benin (Edo State), Kano and Owerri (Imo State).
Madsbjerg said EQUIP initiative is being implemented on a grant awarded by Coca-Cola Foundation.
“Achieving equality and empowerment for women has broad ripple effects that positively affect society.
“Our strategy is to strengthen communities, create a better-shared future, and reach ambitious sustainability goals through prioritization, perseverance and partnerships,” Madsbjerg said.
She said the EQUIP initiative is to support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targeting hunger, poverty, gender equality, decent work and sustained economic growth.
She said that only four in 10 girls in the northeast of the country attend primary school, mainly due to factors like poverty and lack of access to opportunities.
She said, “And 47.3 per cent of Nigerians, or 98m people, live in multidimensional poverty, with most of them located in Northern Nigeria.”
The Coca-Cola Foundation said this development earned Northern Nigeria and Kano State a special focus, as the company seeks to deepen national impact and harness the teeming population of youth and women in a region mired in an insurgency.
Also, before the current partnership, Whitefield has been involved in skill development training, reaching some 5,000 secondary school leavers and graduates, and empowering around 2,000 women directly.
“We can change the Nigerian narrative and build a nation of our dreams if partners with like vision harmonize and synergize efforts to save and empower the teeming growing youth population, as well as release the innate nurturing capacity of the women folks,” Funmi Johnson, CEO of Whitefield Foundation said.
“This partnership with The Coca-Cola Foundation has been the ultimate game-changer in youth and women’s empowerment.
“With them, we have been able to scale our reach in an unprecedented manner,” she added.
