Determined to provide resources and opportunities necessary to improve the social-economic lives of girls and women in Nigeria, Green Girl Company Limited (GGCL), said it plans to empower 10,000 females through its core training programmes in 2023.
The company, which recently streamlined its activities to focus on two core programmes and external partnerships, said it has positioned itself as a leading empowerment platform for women.
Speaking in Lagos recently on the company’s plans for 2023, Abiola Jinadu, business head of GGCL, said her team is set to empower 10,000 females this year, adding that since inception, the company has impacted 6,020 lives.
Jinadu said that through its social impact intervention programme called Green Dignity Kit (GDK), the company aims to sensitise young girls by creating awareness and self-esteem on menstrual hygiene.
According to her, the project, which falls under the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) – to end poverty- involves the distribution of a collection of items required to help young girls go through their menstrual cycle hygienically.
She said that the Dignity Kits contain menstrual necessities such as sanitary pads, panty liners, roll-on, hair ruffle, teas, tissue, and hand sanitisers.
“GGCL embarked on this project to bring relief to teenagers and young adults who not only have to deal with the lack of essential sanitary products, but its consequences such as depression, lack of confidence, poor participation, school or work absenteeism and diseases resulting from poor hygiene among others,” Jinadu said.
She further said the pilot project was powered by Polaris Bank and took place in four states including Kwara, Kogi, Gombe and Borno states with the target of impacting 1,100 girls but ended up impacting a total of 1,999.
She said that between 2021 and 2022, about 3,619 females have already been impacted in the South West including Lagos and Ogun, South East (Anambra) and North Central (Kwara, Kogi, Gombe and Borno).
Jinadu further said that the company also created an educational app known as ‘Gdemy’ that caters for knowledge enhancement, personalised learning experiences, improved interaction, accessibility to online study material, ease of communication, and most importantly, providing remote access.
“The educational app targets females between the ages of 13-55. It gives vocational education that can prepare an individual to be gainfully employed or self-employed with the requisite skill,” she said.
She said that the Green Girl Academy also runs bi-monthly webinars, Instagram live sessions and a mentorship programme tailored to educate females on career and business growth.
On the external partnerships aspect of the company, Jinadu said between May 2022 and December 2022, GGCL contributed to the training of 120 participants in South-Eastern Nigeria (Abia, Anambra, and Enugu states), in plastic recycling.
She said the project was sponsored by the German Bank in partnership with Carbon Afrika and Chicason Group. All participants from six locations within three eastern states went through four modules plastic processing, waste management, environmental protection and management, and entrepreneurial development.
Jinadu further said that the objectives of the project were to equip trainees with the skills required to identify recyclable plastics, sort them and process them to be sold to companies that recycle plastics or produce new materials from recycled waste.
“To equip the trainees with the knowledge required to acquire skills and do a business out of it; to provide trainees with certificates to boost their employability and credibility in the field,” she said.
She said the company is willing to create and organise CSR projects for organisations tailored to any female demographic and urged them to follow them on www.greengirlcompany.com and other social media platforms.
