One-hundred Persons of Concern across different camps in Nigeria have received Start-up kits from the Federal Government.
The Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim who distributed the Start up kits said it was a step towards ensuring self reliance for the Persons of Concern.
Persons of Concern includes refugees, asylum seekers, returnees, stateless persons, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and migrants.
According to her, the beneficiaries have undergone skill acquisition training programmes in various areas of interest to aid in addressing the plight of the Persons of Concern.
“…For this particular training, 100 people were trained in about almost 10 different trades. You can see they are all excited, they are not only being trained, but they are certified. Among them are certified photographers, they have gone through the NABTEB, there are certified tye & dye specialists, there are certified fashion designers. So they are certified in the fields that they’ve been trained,” he said.
“What we are looking for is sustainability, not just durable solutions. So, the Federal Government is committed to the highest forms of sustainable and durable solutions for all Persons of concerns.”
“Most of our trainings are tailor-fit, we look for interest, we look for natural skills and talents and sometimes words of mouth, these trainings are not secret they are being thrown out, so people that are interested will declare interest. And we have our database that also kind of indicates who wants to do what,”Suleiman-Ibrahim explained
On government’s plan to exit IDPs camps across the country, she said.
The core mandate of the Agency is the provision of durable solutions for persons of concern and we are committed to building their resilience, coping mechanisms so that they can earn, improve the economy of this country and they can bounce back.”
He said the agency has come up with lots of interventions which requires sustainability.
Lateefah Ibrahim
