The United States Consulate-General and International Visitor Leadership Programme Alumni Association on Monday organised a one-day enlightenment programme for secondary school girls in Surulere, Lagos.
The event, tagged: “Digital Generation, Our Generation,” was organised to commemorate the International Day of the Girl-Child.
NAN reports that no fewer than 100 female students from 10 schools attended the programme.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Public Affairs Officer, US Consulate, Jenny Foltz, said COVID-19 had reinforced many fans and created new challenges in spite of much progress for adolescent girls,
She added that the consulate was committed to encouraging girls and young women to pursue studies and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
Foltz said: “In Nigeria, we work closely with our partners to help girl children live free from gender-based violence, learn new skills and become future leaders.
“One of the ways we do this is through a programme called the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs.
“We have trained 470 women with entrepreneur skills.
“One of them is Lucy Aniagolu, who founded Agrodemy, an online platform that helps agric business owners and farmers.”
Foltz also said the consulate had another exchange programme called Tech Women.
She commended the IVLP Alumni for their commitment in mentoring young people.
Adetoun Tade, President, IVLP Alumni Association of US Consulate, said: “For girls to be kind of women and leaders we want them to be, we must be intentional in nurturing them.
“We must be intentional how we treat them, what we expose them to, how we talk to them and how they see themselves; all these are targeted at making the girl-child know how special she is.
“We are expecting that they are encouraged, motivated and inspired by the story that they have heard today and by practical example that we have shown them.
“We are expecting them to be so motivated that they would make something out of their own life today, something impactful.”
The Chairman, Surulere Local Government, Bamidele Sulaimon, said the girl-child must be encouraged to be successful in life.
Sulaimon stressed the importance of empowering a girl-child, which, according to him, translated to empowering a community,” he said.
Deborah Shogunle, a student of Akintan Senior Grammar School, who aspires to be a Biomedical Engineer, said she had learnt to stand out and dream big.