NGO Trains Many Flood-affected Women In Lagos State
The International Centre for Environmental Health and Development, ICEHD, on Wednesday, said it had trained over 100 women affected by flood on crisis impact mitigation.
Miss Mercy Joshua, Project Manager, ICEHD, said in a statement that the capacity building training was held in Bakare Street, Ketu, Lagos State , South-West, Nigeria.
Joshua said that the beneficiaries were also provided with business support resources to strengthen their capacity to access skills, resources, and opportunities to address climate challenges and boost farm production.
She said that the ICEHD training had the theme: “Empowering Women Against Crisis – Flood And Natural Disasters Project.”
The project manager said that from May 2022, the flooding in Nigeria became extremely devastating with significant adverse impact, particularly on many impoverished households in the southern parts of the country.
“The flooding has been severe with rainfall being higher than usual, exacerbating the effects of the annual release of excess water from the Dam in River Benue in Nigeria.
“Also, climate change significantly contributes to flooding in Nigeria, as climate shift increases the intensity and frequency of storms and upward trend in extreme rainfall.
“The general effect of the crisis is that many have been killed as a result, many households displaced with thousands of houses, hectares of farmlands and crops destroyed.
“Healthcare challenges have increased with the spread of waste materials transported by the flood, causing a proliferation of infectious diseases and increase in infection rates, particularly in many rural hard-to-reach locations.
“This is where there is little or no access to clean water, skilled medical and healthcare services/interventions.
“It is nearly impossible to access health interventions due to non-availability of resources in many of the affected locations,” she said.
Joshua noted that this situation had resulted in a struggle against hunger, malnutrition, diseases, ill-health, and poverty.
“Our women have become prone to increased ill-health, as they are also faced with real health difficulties as a result of lack of healthcare resources in these locations, especially for pregnant women and women with health challenges.
“There is a need for urgent intervention to mitigate the impacts of the flood on these women by provision of humanitarian emergency support resources, restoring livelihoods and farming activities.
“This will also include healthcare interventions.
“These interventions will, therefore, help the women adapt and be resilient to the current crisis, and health conditions in order to keep them economically engaged, safe, healthy and out of danger.”
NAN/Shakirat Sadiq
