JASPI empowers Benue IDPs with skills, start-up kits to build self-reliance

By Benedicta Aboh

The JASPI Health and Gender Development Initiative has empowered 35 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the Makurdi International Market camp with start-up kits, following intensive vocational training aimed at improving their livelihoods and resilience.

The beneficiaries, 35 adolescent boys and girls, were trained in three marketable skills: barbing, make-up artistry, and manicure. The initiative was implemented by JASPI in collaboration with the Benue Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (BERWASA), with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Speaking during the presentation of the kits, JASPI Programme Manager, Mr. Matthew Hemba, said the intervention was designed to equip displaced adolescents with practical skills while also addressing their psychosocial needs.

“Beyond skills acquisition, the beneficiaries were taken through mental health and psychosocial support sessions, including peer-to-peer engagement, to help them build confidence, social assets and resilience,” Hemba explained.

The empowerment kits, comprising complete barbing tools, make-up kits and manicure sets were presented to the beneficiaries by the Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Enugu, Juliet Chiluwe, with support from the Benue State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs. Theresa Ikwue.

Chiluwe congratulated the trainees and encouraged them to make productive use of the opportunity.

“These kits are meant to help you become economically independent. Use the skills you have acquired to improve your standard of living and contribute positively to your communities,” she urged.

Also speaking, UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, Enugu Field Office, Mr. Victor Atuchukwu, commended JASPI, the Ministry of Women Affairs, and BERWASSA for strengthening child protection interventions in Benue State.

“The establishment of Safe Spaces will ensure that children in IDPs camps have access to confidential child protection services across the 13 camps in Guma, Makurdi and Gwer West LGAs,” Atuchukwu said, adding that the skills training initiative is targeted at boosting the resilience of adolescents and girls affected by crisis.

JASPI has also established Safe Spaces within the camps to provide child-friendly environments and protection services for displaced children.

Some of the beneficiaries, including Aondoakura Akaa Jeremiah (Barbing), Shagba Wueseter Destiny (Manicure), and Christable Iorlumun (Manicure), expressed gratitude to JASPI, UNICEF and other partners for the life-changing support.

“We are grateful for the training and the kits. This will help us earn a living and support ourselves,” one of the beneficiaries said.

The event also featured the signing of a pledge on the Child Protection Wall by heads of relevant government agencies present.

JASPI disclosed that the empowerment programme will be replicated across the 13 IDPs camps in Makurdi, Guma and Gwer West Local Government Areas, as part of ongoing efforts to restore dignity and self-reliance among displaced persons in Benue State.