A nongovernmental organisation, Global Peace Foundation, has trained 100 women in Plateau on financial literacy, and gifted them a take-off grant of N500, 000 to start cooperative societies and establish businesses.

Country Director, Global Peace Foundation Nigeria, Rev. Ruben Hayab, said on Tuesday in Jos, that the initiative was part of the foundation’s peace-building process to unite people across divides.

Mr Hayab stated that the training and empowerment programme, which was held in collaboration with the Christian, Rural and Urban Development Association of Nigeria also aimed to promote social cohesion and religious tolerance.

The country director further said that the essence was to build people’s capacity to manage and handle all types of conflict.

He said that the benefiting communities of Rahwol Kanan and Angwan Doki, both of Jos South Local Government Area were deliberately chosen because of their religious beliefs and what they went through in terms of crises.

“When we came and started conversation with the communities, we discovered that one of the causes of conflict was the poverty line. So we introduced economic empowerment. We have done a programme that we call financial literacy for women’s skill acquisition and building their capacities on how to manage businesses.

“And then we formed them into five cooperative societies, and each of the cooperative societies was made up of 20 women from different religious backgrounds. The essence is to help them unite and meet regularly to discuss their businesses or trade, and also add their voice to finding solutions to conflicts around them. The unfortunate incident on Christmas Eve woke us up to the need to continue to increase the voice of women and peace-building,’’ he stated.

Mr Hayab added that through the cooperative societies, the women would continue to engage one another in businesses and also promote peaceful coexistence to protect their investments.

He pointed out that the choice of women was deliberate, as women often played vital roles in helping society move forward.

According to him, the voice of women at the table of dialogue is the best voice that can bring positive results to the dialogue.

He said that a woman was the one person that could speak to everyone such as the children, their husbands, siblings, and even their parents, and they were bound to listen.

Mr Hayab said that apart from training and giving grants to women, the foundation also provided desks and science equipment to two schools in the area.

The country director explained that the idea was to promote children’s quality education, and also preach a message of unity and peaceful coexistence.

The Northern Coordinator of the Foundation, Alhaji Halilu Maraya, said that the country had recorded more than 30 sectarian crises, and consequently, Nigeria had also lost too many lives and property worth billions of naira.

According to Mr Maraya, if adherents of the two major religions abide by the teachings of their faiths, there will not be any crisis because both religions teach respect for humanity.

The northern coordinator said that the Global Peace Foundation always emphasised the importance of human unity.

“If we realise that we are all members of one human family, regardless of any social difference, there wouldn’t be any sectarian crisis. We were all created by the Almighty God. If the Almighty God had wanted all of us to be one religion, all of us could have been. Therefore, we must love one another regardless of religion,’’ he advised.

Also, Executive Director of CRUDAN, Mr Joseph Gyandi, said that they partnered with the Global Peace Foundation because they shared the same vision in terms of peaceful coexistence and sustainability.

One of the beneficiaries, Nanbam Wudet, commended the Global Peace Foundation and CRUDAN for the opportunity, saying that it would enhance interaction among the women in their communities.

Mrs Wudet said that a cooperative society would no doubt also enhance their economic wellbeing. 
(NAN)