The Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development says it has disbursed over N400 million to beneficiaries of its National Women Empowerment Fund (NAWEF) programme currently ongoing in eight pilot states.
The Minister, Aisha Alhassan who disclosed this on Thursday while delivering a keynote address at the mid-term review meeting on the 17th National Council on Women Affairs and Social Development said, NAWEF programme was established by a presidential proclamation as a micro finance scheme to provide women, particularly those in the rural areas access to soft loans for their business activities.
She said implementation of NAWEF programme has since commenced in eight pilot states and so far, the sum of N1.6 billion has been disbursed to the Bank of Industry ( BoI) for the beneficiaries.
"A total sum of N476, 700,000.00 has already been disbursed to beneficiaries from the eight pilot states which include, Adamawa, Yobe, Jigawa, Abia, Akwa-Ibom and Osun States.
The Minister expressed hope on more achievements across the states, assuring that the ministry is committed to sustaining harmonious working relationship in other to advance better livelihood of women, girls and other vulnerable groups.
One of the participants, the commissioner of women affairs in Jigawa State, Hajiya Ladi Ibrahim, lamented the status of women in the country while saying the meeting has been very instrumental to the improvement of women in the state.
The mid-term review meeting is an annual event and a unifying platform for all stakeholders and gender experts in the sector, to take stock of the status of implementation of the resolution made at the last national council meeting.
