Liberate Makoko Women

Makoko, A community described as the world largest floating slum is located in Lagos, Nigeria. Residents of this community live in wooden shelters built on the Lagos Lagoon. This community is particularly known for the level of poverty in the community because several children are out of school, teenage pregnancy and early marriage is extremely high and the standard of living in the community is very poor.

The source of employment for men in this community are fishing and motorcycling riding while women are generally unemployed or involved in petty trading, earning little to no profit  and unable to support themselves and their families.

Towards mitigating the problem of poverty in this community, Iranwo Foundation economically empowers women in this community by helping them build small scale industries. With the help of Peace First grant, we trained women on two vocational skills which are Soap making and Fabrics designing using the local Tie Dye. We also trained 55 women on different business skills such as pricing, advertisement and other requisite marketing strategies. To expedite the growth of the women, Iranwo Foundation provided them with micro loans to begin their soap making businesses. For sustainability of their businesses, Iranwo Foundation has created a partnership with the women in this community by helping them brand, create awareness and market their products on social media.

This intervention has given these women control over their lives, they can now afford to invest in education, skills, healthcare and other problems affecting them, leading to an increase in their standard of living and a sustainable lifestyle.