WCC, Umuaka stakeholders hold talks on Mayor’s Challenge program.
3 min read
The much talked about global Mayor’s Challenge program which locally generated a lot of awareness and recognized Umuaka City as one of the 50 Super Cities in the world became the most trending news in Umuaka and some parts of Nigeria after the Women’s Crisis Centre WCC, organized a stakeholders’ meeting in the community. The meeting which was held in the royal palace of His Royal Highness, Eze Ken Uzoho of Achara, one of the towns in Umuaka City had in attendance, all the Umuaka women leaders, their presidents-general and the representatives of Women’s Crisis Centre, the local NGO that is implementing the program which is funded by the prestigious New York based Bloomberg Foundation.
Dike Uchechukwu Kenneth, the office manager, Women’s Crisis Centre told Umuaka Times that the purpose of the briefing, was to inform the residents of Umuaka Super City about the Mayor’s Challenge program which will hold shortly in the community. Still in his presentation to the women leaders and presidents-general in Umuaka, Dike Uchechukwu Kenneth, informed the audience that WCC would soon embark on a prototype to determine how the entire program will be like when properly and formally executed after the prototype. According to him, the intervention program is focused on three major activities which include Community Health Insurance Scheme, Community Micro Savings and Loans Scheme and Violence Against Women and Girls in the community. Kenneth went further into details and explained to the audience who would benefit from the program, how they can enroll and the possibilities and challenges of the program.
Before Kenneth ended his briefing, he used the opportunity and informed the stakeholders that Umuaka as a Super City has acquired a global recognition by Bloomberg Philanthropies which is the foundation funding the project. In his words, he puts it thus.”Because of the sensitive position Umuaka Super City occupies today in the world, we must meet up to international best practices. I am happy to inform you that this program includes the development of an application where acts of violence against women and girls can easily be reported.”
Chief Nuel Oguike, the president general of all the presidents-general in Umuaka while making his speech, thanked Bloomberg for the recognition it has accorded the community all the way from New York and requested the stakeholders to feel free to come up with any idea that will help the program achieve its desired successes. In his views, he advised all hands to be on deck towards achieving the best quality result. “The world is looking at us from all the continents of the globe. We must not fail. We are prepared to do the impossible to make sure that this program will achieve nothing but success.”
Woman leader, Amiyi town Mrs Theresa Egbuchilem, who spoke on behalf of the other women leaders promised to convey the message to all the women groups in the city and assured WCC and Bloomberg Philanthropies of their support and active role in the community towards the success of the program. She specifically thanked the two bodies for the awareness and interventions they are creating in the inclusion of women in the development of the city.
From what Umuaka Times gathered at the end of the meeting, the Women’s Crisis Centre and the entire Umuaka Super City are prepared and eager to embrace the social change Mayor’s Challenge is bringing to them. At the end of the interactive meeting, some of the women leaders and the presidents- general informed WCC to always get across to them for any assistance and role they could play in order to make the program an enticing success.
From Umuaka Times findings so far, the realities on ground evidently show a high level commitment among stakeholders in Umuaka City towards achieving a successful collaboration for social change between Bloomberg Philanthropies and Women’s Crisis Centre in the nearest future.
