On Friday, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Consulate General in awarded some Nigerians who are working on fields such as entrepreneurship, empowerment of women and youth, human rights, transparency in government, and freedom of media, non-government organisations (NGOs), and academic institutions.
The award ceremony, which held at the US Embassy, was in recognition and in support of Nigerian women and men who “are working to solve hugely important problems for your communities in southern Nigeria,” the U.S. Consul General, John Bray, said at the ceremony.
“By making these awards, we seek to increase the capacity of non-governmental organizations and individuals to strengthen communities – bringing more opportunity to more Nigerians through creative projects that have lasting benefits in society,” Bray added.
So far, the United States Consulate General in Lagos has awarded approximately $381,220 in Department of State funds to 36 in 2016.
Of the 23 awardees were Co-Creation Hub and six others who are helping the US Embassy to implement its Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative. The CYFI is a dynamic youth-based initiative launched in 2011 by the U.S. Consulate General, Lagos, to encourage community service by “energetic young leaders,” the consul said.
According to the consul, the awardees are empowering women and girls, including underserved women, and women living with disabilities, through “training new entrepreneurs, cleaning up the environment and recycling waste, bringing medical care to rural areas, educating hearing-impaired persons on the rights of persons with disabilities, mitigating human trafficking and reducing gender-based violence in Nigeria.”
The Co-Creation Hub, which got over $100,000 in grant, is the official partner of the U.S. Mission to Nigeria to set up and operate a new Priority American Space at their business incubation facility in Yaba, Lagos.
This Priority American Space, will, when ready, “be a publicly accessible space for Nigerians to access a broad range of information and materials about the United States and our culture, take part in English language learning, learn about opportunities to study in the United States, and especially to participate in programs on technology and entrepreneurship,” the U.S. Consul General said.
It will be recalled that the CcHub, in partnership with the US embassy, hosted the first SciTech Women Meetup in Nigeria. The quarterly event brings together women in STEM fields to discuss and share insight on issues that concern women in the Nigerian tech ecosystem.