Save the Children International signs MoU with Gombe, commend education budget 

Save the Children International (SCI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Gombe State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development for continued collaboration and sustainability of various interventions in the areas of Child survival and welfare.

The International NGO, while also commending the State Government for allocating the highest budget to education in its 2020 appropriation, presented Vocational Training Materials worth N8.7 million to 3000 adolescents under it’s Reaching and Empowering Adolescents to make informed Choices for their Health (REACH) project.

Making the presentation at the premises of the Ministry of Women Affairs, SCI’s REACH project Director, Dr. Module Taiwo said SCI was excited with the State Governor’s passion for development particularly by focusing on education, health, agriculture and social welfare.

She said, “We particularly applaud this administration’s strategic move toward providing quality education by giving education the highest allocation in the 2020 budget. This, and Government’s commitment towards enrolling out of school children would go a long way in safeguarding the future of the State”.

Speaking on the REACH project, Dr. Taiwo said ” So far, we have graduated over 3000 adolescents in Balanga and Dukku LGAs who either have decided to enrol/re-enrol in schools or learn a skill that would enable them engage in income generating activities”.

She added that it was in the course of monitoring the project sites that some of the adolescents requested for Save the Children support to acquire vocational skills and set up their own business/livelihood opportunities.

“While it is easier to support them go back to school, linking them up with skills acquisition centres is a bit challenging hence the need to strategically work out a plan with the Government both at local and State levels to achieve this”, she said.

It was in the light of this that the organization signed an MoU with the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development to further entrench its collaboration and sustainability of the intervention.

Items supplied included, plastic containers, hand gloves, stoves, pots, chemicals for making pomade, detergents and freshners, Ankara, sewing machines, plastic tables, calculators among many others.

In her remarks, State Commissioner of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Naomi JJ Awak, expressed the happiness of the Government and people of the State over the programme and promised to support it. She appealed for the scaling up of the programme to all Local Government Areas of the State.