Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:
|
Gender Issues and Advancement of Women:
Capacity building
Education and training of women
Human rights of women
The girl child
Violence against women
Women and poverty
Women and the media
Sustainable Development:
Capacity-building
Education
Gender equality
Poverty
|
| Geographic scope: |
National
|
| Country of activity: |
Nigeria
|
| Millennium Development Goals: |
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Promote gender equality and empower women
Develop global partnership for development
|
| Year established: |
|
| Year of registration: |
2005 |
| Organizational structure: |
Board of Trustees i. Dr. Christiana Okechukwu (A professor of English as a Second language, and Linguistics) ii. Vanessa Okechukwu (M.A. Social Work) iii. Dr. Anthony Okonkwo (Pharmacist) Incoming Trustees Being processed i. Barrister Mrs. Uchenna Ekete ii. Barrister Mrs. Ifeoma Igwebuike Board of Advisors: i. Prof. Dr. Mary Owens, (female) Chair, Dept of Reading, ESL, World Languages and Philosophy, Montgomery College, Rockville, MD, 20850 ii. Ms. Miriam Carter (Female) iii. Mrs. Ifeoma Gbulie (Female, Educationist, retired principal, Queen’s School, Enugu, Nigeria). v. Rabbi Howard Gorin vi. Dr. Olayiwola Abegurin vii. Dr. Sulayman Nyang The Executive Committee Professor Christiana Okechukwu (Female) The Executive Director and chairperson of the committee and the head of the Centre. Coordinates all activities. Ms. Juliet Igwe (Female—): Programme Director Nigeria in charge of seminars, workshops, and conference, academic and cultural matters, skills training, publishing, and information dissemination. Ms. Chinelo Udeh, Programme Director USA in charge of coordinating grant proposals and research and Centre. Mr. Andrea Natale, programme Director Europe--in charge of Strategic Planning. Dr. Elizabeth Odoh (female, Medical Doctor), Director of Women Health and Empowerment and Girls’ Empowerment. Mid Management Staff: Mrs. Chinenye Duru (Centre Manager) Mrs. Patience Umeubosike Finance Manager), organizes programs and keeps the Centre account, Miss Oluchukwu Edogwo (Program Officer) |
| Number and type of members: |
Membership is not fixed as our members increases and incorporates any indigent girl in our operational area who seeks to use our facilities. As of this February we have 630 members who come to the centre. The members are indigent young girls. The first group comprises girls who, because they got pregnant out of wedlock, have given up hope of going back to school. Their parents do not want to give them any support because of the stigma of having gotten pregnant without finishing their education and without getting married. The general belief is that such girls would have to abandon all thoughts of higher education since they now have another human being to feed. These girls resort to either continuing to date the men that got them pregnant in the first place or look for other men to take care of them. They end up either getting pregnant again or engaging in petty selling or craft. These are very brilliant girls with high potentials whose one mistake has consigned them to the rubbish heap. The second group are the “good girls” who because they are from indigent homes, sleep around with “sugar daddies” so as to get money to support their education and get out of poverty. Sometimes, these girls are trapped into marriage and becoming second wives to these old men in order to raise their economic status. The third are girls who are at the risk of ending up like the first group of girls either because of indigence or because of ignorance of the paths open to them. They are the focus of the Centre’s Project Success. These girls need both counseling and hope that if they choose the usually long and difficult path of education, it would be worthwhile in the future. The fourth group are girls who married early but are unfortunate to have lost their husbands. I was once among this group. I lost my husband when I was 26 and the oldest of my three daughters was seven years old. The girls in this group find themselves widowed at a young age in a society that has no social amenities in place to help them. The two options they have become either to work low paying jobs, date men to get money to augment their meager resources or get further education to make themselves marketable enough to get well-paying jobs and increase their earning power. The impediment to the first option is that even though these girls get rich men, that source of income is usually short-lived, for these men just support them for sometime and move on to the next vulnerable female or even move on to their daughters. The second option, getting a higher education, is usually an uphill task since without money it is almost unattainable. The Centre wants to help in making this second option attainable hence it provides these girls with educational counseling, survival skills, and educational resources. Some of the Centre’s activities bestride both women’s human right and women economic empowerment, engaging young girls, physically and mentally to limit chances of idleness and negative activities. Because inadequately prepared and floating between high school graduation and adult life and entering a life of uncertainty because of lack of skill and qualification for colleges, they are the most vulnerable as they are made to face poverty and boredom at this stage - - a terrible combination that inevitably leads to frustration and loss of self worth and motivation, depression, alienation, and a sense of emptiness, and the propensity for prostitution and other negative activities. These members seek access to education and educational materials at the Centre. We strongly believe that denial of education, covertly or overtly, is a serious abuse of human rights. . One of the Centre’s philosophies is that education breaks the grip poverty has on a society. Inwelle Centre’s model empowers these members to yearn, search and be responsible for their future, by reaching out and searching for opportunities by themselves. |
| Funding structure: |
Donations and grants from domestic sources
Foreign and international grants
|
Quadrennial report due? Read more on our updated page.
Questions on applications, reports, or other inquiries
Applying for ECOSOC Consultative Status?
Obtaining a UN Grounds Pass
Registering for a UN Conference?