W.TEC Hosts 200 Girls to Mark 2022 International Day of the Girl Child Across Lagos State
The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) marked the 2022 International Day of the Girl Child by holding a series of events with 200 secondary school girls at 2 locations across Lagos State. The events, themed “Our Time is Now, Our Rights, Our Future,” featured gender leadership presentations plus break-out sessions on mentorship and a hands-on training session on building rechargeable devices.
The International Day of the Girl Child was declared by the United Nations with the aim of recognizing girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.
The 2 events organized by W.TEC was held in Lagos State at both Ikoyi and Oregun. The Ikoyi event was organized in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre Lagos and Union Bank of Nigeria PLC while the event in Oregun was organized by W.TEC in collaboration with CUMMINS West Africa LTD.
Ikoyi Event
The International Day of the Girl was held on October 11th, 2022. The event was organized by The Women’s Technology Centre (W.TEC) in partnership with the United Nations Information Centre and Union Bank. The event was held at the United Nations Information Centre office in Ikoyi.
Five(5) schools were invited for this celebration; 20 secondary school girls per school, a total of one hundred girls. The event commenced at 11:30am. An opening prayer was said by one of the students. Mrs. Ngozichuwka Akinyele delivered a keynote address on the topic “Our Time is Now: Our Rights, Our Future,” and the girls learned a lot from her speech. The mentoring and workshop sessions were the event’s high points. Both activities ran concurrently.
Out of the one hundred girls, 85 of them participated in the mentorship session where they had ladies from Union Bank speak to them on the topic “Choosing the right career path”. While the 15 girls left, they attended the workshop session where they were taught how to create a solar phone charger and a keyboard light.
After both sessions, the girls shared their experiences of the sessions they had.
Oregun event
To celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child, themed “Our Time is Now, Our Rights, Our Future”, the Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC), in partnership with CUMMINS, organized an event for 100 female students at Oregun Junior High School on Wednesday, October 12, 2022. To effectively impact the girls with skills and knowledge, the event was segmented into two major aspects; hands-on training on renewable energy projects and mentorship sessions with professionals.
In the keynote speech given by a CUMMINS female engineer, Favour Okorosas, she advised the girls to get rid of procrastination and begin to take steps towards a brighter future because the time is now.
The International Day of the Girl Child event with the schoolgirls was aimed at encouraging their interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). They were enlightened on roles to utilize their potential and develop their skills. At the event, the participants were mentored on career exploration, self-discovery, and personal development. They were also educated on how to deal with certain challenges they might face in their various careers.
Furthermore, the W.TEC facilitators trained the participants to build solar phone chargers and power banks. It was an exciting experience for the girls as they expressed happiness at seeing their projects work.
October 11 is the International Day of the Girl Child, as declared by the United Nations to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.
This year, W.TEC celebrated the International Day of the Girl Child at two locations in Lagos. The event had female students, teachers, school officials, the W.TEC team, W.TEC alumnae, and partner organizations in attendance.
Press Coverage
Guardian Newspapers: https://guardian.ng/news/w-tech-cummins-west-africa-empowers-100-female-students-in-lagos/
Thisday Newspapers: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/10/13/united-nations-w-tec-urge-fg-to-invest-in-girl-child-insist-on-technology-education/
The Nation: https://thenationonlineng.net/w-tec-empowers-100-girls-through-technology-programme/amp
For more details please contact:
Adeyemi Odutola
Communications Officer (W.TEC)
info@wtec.org.ng +234.809.698.7541