Graduates of women empowerment initiative, SHAPE 2020, received commendations from Yaba residents after successfully producing and delivering bottles of hand sanitizers to members of the Yaba community. The donation, which was made to ensure that Yaba residents are equipped with hand sanitizers amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, was also extended to the Sabo Police Station in Yaba, Lagos State.
Earlier this year, the Whitefield Foundation – a local NGO, with funding from The Coca-Cola Foundation, kicked off its SHAPE 2020 programme in a bid to empower disadvantaged and unemployed women from local communities between the ages of 18yrs and 50yrs.
The programme, which was launched in February, saw 770 women successfully enrolled while subsequently empowering 237 with technical skills and tools, of which 150 businesses have emerged so far. Courses organised include catering, make-up, fashion, hair & wig making, nail care, domestic essentials, event decoration & planning, amongst several other categories.
In light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the SHAPE 2020 graduates have since continued to support local communities through the provision of free hand sanitizers to frontline security officials and members of the community, as part of relief efforts.
Beneficiaries of the fashion design course have also recently embarked on the production of fashionable and functional face masks, essential for protection from the novel virus. Additionally, beneficiaries of the catering course have also stepped forward with their culinary skills, helping to mitigate the effects of the lockdown in their immediate environment.
Whitefield Foundation, a platform for empowering women, has successfully trained over 5000 women and youth in various skill-acquisition programmes, over the past two decades. The Foundation continues to work towards its goal of creating a sustainable community through women empowerment.
The SHAPE 2020 programme, funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF), supports its vision to empower 5 million women economically by 2020 under the 5by20 initiative as TCCF, since its inception in 1984, has contributed over $1 billion to help empower women, protect the environment, and enhance communities, socially and economically, around the world.