AFRICA/NIGERIA - Promotion of African woman: Harambee Award 2018 to a Nigerian doctor

Thursday, 8 March 2018

Internet

Lagos (Agenzia Fides) - The Nigerian activist Ebele Okoye received, this year the Harambee Award 2018 to the Promotion and Equality of African Women, created by the Catholic association Harambee Africa International onlus which, established on the occasion of the canonization of Josemaría founder of Opus Dei, promotes educational initiatives in Africa and on Africa.
Pharmacist, director of the project "AMAD - Women's Board", the Nigerian doctor is committed to promoting the educational, social and cultural development of women in her country. "The great inequalities - reveals Okoye in a note sent to Fides - are not only between men and women, but above all between a few rich and a very poor majority".
"In rural areas women are totally subjugated", continues the doctor, and this is why she focuses on their formation so that they are better able to live and be independent. The commitment of Okoye is also aimed at teenagers so that they do not leave school or learn a trade. The doctor is convinced that the change of Africa is closely linked to the development of women because they transmit education, culture and tradition: "Educating a woman means educating the whole family and families throughout the country" she says.
"Africa – she continues - needs responsible leaders and the AMAD project is an excellent model because it not only offers seminars on leadership, but also addresses social problems, in particular the fight against poverty. For example, the application of the AMAD program in the Iroto community, in the Nigerian state of Ogun, has supported almost 4,000 women and children in the area".
Amad's main activities include professional training courses in restaurant and hospitality management, leadership training, professional development, education for women's and families' rights, extracurricular programs for adolescents, literacy, school support, education and health services, basic skills in rural areas, nutrition courses, nutrition and hygiene. Harambee Africa International has been planning development projects in the education and training sector in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2002. The organization is also involved in information and awareness raising initiatives to contribute to the spread of a truer image of the continent (see Fides 28/10/2008). The Harambee Prize 2018 will be presented next March 13 in Madrid. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 8/3/2018)


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