First Lady Sandra Granger continues to facilitate women’s empowerment by equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge which will contribute towards making them economically stable individuals.
This, according to the Government Information Agency (GINA), will be carried out through the Self-Reliance and Success in Business workshop. The facilitation of these workshops is made possible through the Office of the First Lady and the Social Protection Ministry.
A number of workshops empowering women through entrepreneurship have already been held across the country and, according to the First Lady, two more communities will benefit from the women’s empowerment programme by the end of 2016.
“We are going to Linden and Blairmont before the end of the year, and we have some more workshops. We keep the numbers small to make sure that everybody gets full benefit from the facilitators. It’s nice to say, you have 100 people, but how much do those people learn to expand their businesses from that? So we keep it to a minimum, we say 30 or 35, but we have gone close to 40 on occasions. When people walk in, they will be included, and that’s how we go with women empowerment,” Mrs Granger explained.
Workshops have already been held in Lusignan, Linden, Lethem, Mabaruma, Port Kaituma, Mahdia, Rosignol, Bartica, Anna Regina and Kuru Kururu.
The First Lady stated that “Education is the key. I’ve been to all the regions because I don’t believe development would only happen on the coastland, but my projects are aimed at empowering women and girls for the obvious reason, the data has shown once women advance economically their families advance with them, so I will always go along with advancing women and moving them forward with my workshop on self-reliance and success in business.”
To date, approximately 280 women have benefited from training through the workshop. Upon completion, each participant is awarded a certificate, which is recognised by the Business Ministry and which makes her a certified businesswoman.
