Date: 2016-12-28

No fewer than 17,000 people across the 360 communities in Kwara State are to benefit from the cash transfer programme of the federal government.

The state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajia Asiat Ayinke Saka, disclosed this tuesday while speaking with journalists in Ilorin, the state capital.

He said biometric data of the beneficiaries consisting of women and vulnerable children had been captured.

On the Small and Medium Enterprises, Saka disclosed that about N200million would be disbursed to 10,000 widows in the 16 local government areas of the state to jump start their own businesses.

The commissioner stressed the need for government at all levels to empower women to enable them fend for themselves and reduce their sufferings.

Saka also said the ministry's vocational centre was currently training women and youths in 42 trades across the state, with five beneficiaries from each local government.

On the special intervention for people of special needs, the commissioner noted that mobility aides had been provided for them to enable them move around and earn a living.

She said the ministry's legal department also fights for and advocates the right of women and children, appealing to members of the public in trauma or facing domestic violence to inform the ministry for proper legal action.