“The First Step to Ending GBV Against Rural Women is to Improve the Earning Power of these Women”- Uwakmfon Archibong Nsa

“Some of the challenges I face while working with community women and girls are; community women still have this belief of depending on men which is the highest cause of gender based violence against women”- Uwakmfon Archibong Nsa

Uwakmfon is a State Award winner in community development service, she has Magnanimous Award from Generalkopho Leadership program for outstanding performance in community work, and she is Generalkopho Leadership program Fellow, ZeroToOne High Impact Leaders Fellow, Savvy Fellow, Lagos Business School Alumni, and a sustainability leader and champion for United People Global.

She is a trained teacher, an author, and the Founder of Flourish Heart Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that trains and educates women and girls on the right to their sexual and reproductive health, empowers them with skills, scholarship opportunities, and seed fund, to reduce gender-based violence against women and girls.

Uwakmfon has work experience with Health Communication Capacity Collaboration (HC3, USAID) and World Health Organization (WHO). She is passionate about teaching, coaching and mentoring young women and girls to reach their full potential. She is an activist, women and girls advocate and a change maker.

HOW ARE YOU LOCALIZING THE SDGS IN NIGERIA?

Here, Flourish Heart Foundation works with women and girls as the target beneficiaries to localize SDGs in Nigeria. In order to implement SDGs 8, we train women and girls on entrepreneurial skills, set – up businesses for them, or empower them with seed – fund to enable them set – up businesses for themselves and have financial stability. We also train women on enterprise management and financial literacy to build their capacity and to enable them to run their businesses effectively so as to improve the socio-economic of women. We also provide scholarship opportunities for young girls to enable them to get educated and become contributing members of society, thereby reducing gender-based violence against women and girls.

To implement SDGs 3, we educate young women and girls on the right to their sexual and reproductive health to enable women to have full access to their body. Working SDGs 5, we create awareness on gender-based violence prevention, we train community men, boys, as partners in gender violence prevention, we also provide medical, legal, and psychosocial services to the survivors of gender-based violence.

PLEASE TELL US MORE THE MAIN PROJECT YOU ARE WORKING ON

The main project I am working on is women empowerment. Training women on skills as well as capacity building. I believe in a better generation of young women and girls. I know that when women are empowered, it will avail their rights, boost their self-confidence, help them actualize their dreams, and build their potential, it will make them to be part of decision-making in society and contribute positively to economic growth.

PLEASE SHARE SOME OF THE IMPACT STORIES 

Flourish Heart Foundation has educated 200 young women and girls on the right to their sexual and reproductive health, donated sanitary pads, trained 100 young women on entrepreneurial skills, set – up businesses for 4 young women, provided one young girl with a one-year secondary school scholarship and set up a safe space for 20 young girls where they come together to share their challenges, get mentored to develop a positive self – confidence, thereby becoming better in life.

HOW IS THE PROJECT ENSURING THAT NIGERIA ACHIEVES THE SDGS BY 2030?

By 2030, lots of women would have gotten good jobs, employment, and equal opportunities. By 2030, most women will get to know their rights, be part of major decision-making in Nigeria, have financial stability, and even become employers of labour. Flourish Heart Foundation is working tirelessly to build the capacity of women especially in the local communities, to enable them stand out and their voices heard in the society. Through this project, many women will reach their potential of having decent jobs and boosting economic growth by 2030.

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OR CONSTRAINTS AFFECTING THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROJECT AND WHAT ARE THE SUPPORT YOU NEED?

Some of the challenges I face while working with community women and girls are; community women still have this belief of depending on men which is the highest cause of gender based violence against women, especially in the community I am working with. Women find it difficult to build their skills and capacity, and this is a major challenge to us, because we need to convince them by talking, visiting and following up before they can see the need of getting a skill. Some even use their babies as an excuse of not being able to leave the house. Another challenge is financing to execute some of our activities. Our major source of funding is crowdfunding and donations, we need partners that will work with us to enable us to achieve all our project goals and objectives.

YOUR ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE

I encourage every young person to stay positive, touch lives in little ways they can. Volunteer with organizations to make the world a better place for the vulnerable, volunteer to help achieve the SDGs by 2030.

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To connect with Uwakmfon, you can find her on Instagram or Twitter.    Learn more about Florish Africa by visiting them on Facebook