A non-governmental organisation, Mental and Environmental Development Initiative for Children (MEDIC), has received a $100,000 grant from the Coca-Cola Foundation through its New World Programme aimed at empowering women and youths across Nigeria on sustainable environment.
The grant is aimed at implementing a Recycling Scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment (RESWAYE) programme on the NGO.
Coca-Cola’s ‘New World Programme’ is in line with its ‘World Without Waste’ programme geared towards educating people on waste disposal and also to work with relevant stakeholders such as MEDIC to improve plastic waste disposal and recycling procedure.
Speaking on behalf of The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF) on the grant, the Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability Manager, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe said: “What RESWAYE does is that it focuses on two crucial passion points for us at Coca-Cola which are women’s empowerment and sustainable waste management.
“We recognize the importance of preserving our environment and we are passionate about empowering women to reach their full potential. For this reason, we are excited to be partnering with MEDIC on this.”
She added: “In Nigeria, there are twice as many women below the poverty line as men, and up to 19 times as many men in executive positions as women.
“As a result of this, a considerable amount of effort is being put into female empowerment in Nigeria. This will no doubt complement our efforts on our 5by20 programme.”
Also speaking on RESWAYE, Doyinsola Ogunye, the founder of MEDIC, said: “We’ve been working in this community for over five years, but mostly with the children. With RESWAYE, we’re empowering the women to not only occupy them but to also equip them enough to provide for and take care of their families. This launch is a historic event because this is the first ever network of women who recycle in Nigeria and we can’t be more proud.”
Commenting on why MEDIC was chosen, Onyemelukwe noted: “We are proud to partner with them on the Recycling Scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment (RESWAYE) to tackle Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 13, 14, and 15, which are: Climate Action, Life Underwater, and Life on Land. RESWAYE seeks to empower self-motivated women and young people who are ready to make a positive change in their environment.”
It could be recalled that the MEDIC – an NGO focused towards building sustainable environment and oceans through improved education and job creation for more resilient communities – is passionate about what they do for communities, especially towards plastic pollution, recycling and empowering women.
