Mercy Corps, an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), has distributed catering and tailoring equipment to 26,875 households in Yobe under the Building Resilience In Complex Crisis (BRICC) programme.
The equipment included deep freezers, refrigerators, gas cookers, pots, frying pans, aluminum pots, knives, frying spoons, pans, chopping boards, buckets and sewing machines.
Speaking at the occasion in Damaturu, on Tuesday, Hugh Briggs, the NGO’s Field Manager in the state, noted that the 36-month programme would build resilience among victims of insurgency in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno.
“ The distributed equipment will increase the households’ ability to cope with the shocks of conflict, climate change and the risk of future conflicts,” he said.
Briggs said the application of the equipment in tailoring and catering would cushion the effect of the devastating conflicts they experienced.
“We’re building the absorptive and adaptive resilience capacities of men, women and youths. We are to engage with communities and their leaders to create conditions that can facilitate systematic change.
“We are supporting the state government to develop a social protection policy to address the needs of the vulnerable population through the Ministry of Women Affairs,” he said.
The field manager said the BRICC programme would also restore and create community economic assets and water points, in addition to assisting vulnerable and conflict-affected households to meet their basic needs, including increased savings with improved access to basic health.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, state Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Tonga Betara, thanked the European Union (EU) for the support which would reduce the sufferings of women and youths in the communities.
“Today’s intervention will develop a robust policy of addressing the needs of vulnerable persons in the state,” she noted. (NAN)
