As part of its efforts to provide humanitarian assistance in the North East, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has on Thursday, launched a Multipurpose Community Hall in Yola, Adamawa State.
The hall which is funded by the government of Korea, in collaboration with the IOM, the World Food Programme, as well as the Adamawa State Government, is to serve as a Skills acquisition centre.
Speaking, at the ceremony, IOM Chief of Mission, Franz Celestin said it would also serve as a center to provide support and empowerment to survivors of sexually based violence.
“This hall was built with the purpose of providing a safe space for those who have been displaced and also for those in the community who need assistance.
“This gives a space for women, especially those who have been victims of violence, to chart their own course and put forward the steps in the right direction for a better life, he said.
Giving insights into some of the skills to be acquired, Franz Celestine said the centre had been equipped with sewing machines to teach tailoring, fish pens for fish farming, as well as a vegetable garden.
According to him, proceeds from the enterprises at the centre will be use to pay participants, while the IOM works at scaling up the intervention.
“The scope is going to reach as many people as possible, we are just testing it to see how many people we can accommodate and we are going to cascade it to reach even more people.
On why it was sited in Adamawa and not Borno, he said that IOM chose the state because of the relative security and protection of investment.
He stressed that one would not want to build such an edifice in a crisis-prone area, where insurgents could easily attack and burn it down in a couple of months, hence the choice of Yola.
Commissioning the centre, Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa state who commended the initiative said the gesture was part of a 2 million dollar funding provided to IOM by the Korean government for humanitarian assistance.
He assured that the state government would ensure the sustenance and good utilization of the centre for the purpose for which it was built.
The governor requested Korean govt to consider indigenes of Adamawa in its sponsored postgraduate programmes, saying that the state would also need assistance in the area of technology.
On his part, the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Kim Young-Chae said Nigeria was indeed blessed, but insecurity and lack of peace was foiling the ability of the country to harness its potentials.
He stressed that he was not oblivious of the challenges faced by Internally Displace Persons in the North East, adding that the interventions by the Korean government were viewed in that light.
NAN