From Surviving to Leading:
30 Women Equipped to Build, Earn and Lead
A two-day empowerment training that moved beyond survival toward sustainable livelihoods, confidence and leadership.
For two days, 30 women from Imo and Benue States — many of whom have experienced different forms of violence, including Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) — came together in Owerri for an empowerment training designed to move beyond survival towards sustainable livelihoods, confidence and leadership.
This training forms part of CYDI Nigeria’s ongoing project to prevent Conflict-Related Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (CRSGBV) and to promote women’s meaningful inclusion in community decision-making platforms, including Community Town Unions and the Cabinet of Traditional Rulers. Held on 14 and 15 October 2026 at Arizona Hotel, the training created a practical and supportive space where participants examined the challenges affecting their livelihoods, explored business opportunities, strengthened their financial management skills and reflected on the realities of GBV, women’s rights and personal safety.
What Made This Training Different
Rather than treating economic empowerment as simply access to income, the training connected livelihood development with protection, dignity and agency — key pillars of CYDI’s broader work on preventing conflict-related violence and advancing women’s leadership in community structures.
Real Challenges Addressed
Damaged equipment, limited capital, attracting customers, stock management, unsafe travel and balancing business with family responsibilities.
Practical Strategies
Group discussions, experience-sharing, livelihood mapping and role-play helped women identify opportunities matched to their skills and local markets.
Protection + Dignity
Livelihood skills were deliberately linked to personal safety, rights awareness and the power to make independent choices.
Leadership & Women’s Rights at the Centre
The training placed leadership and women’s rights at the heart of economic empowerment. Participants examined different forms of gender-based violence and discussed how economic dependence, insecurity, displacement and stigma can increase women’s vulnerability. They were introduced to relevant legal protections and support pathways and encouraged to challenge victim-blaming.
Leadership sessions then shifted the conversation from vulnerability to agency. Women identified their own strengths — courage, patience, honesty, creativity, problem-solving, planning and communication — and examined the barriers that can prevent women from participating in community decision-making platforms such as Community Town Unions and traditional leadership structures. This aligns directly with CYDI’s goal of promoting women’s inclusion in these spaces.
Turning Learning into Action
Most importantly, the training translated learning into concrete plans.
📋 Business & 90-Day Plans
- Current businesses and new livelihood opportunities
- Skills they want to develop
- Resources needed and possible challenges
- Clear next steps for the following 90 days
📈 Stronger Business Thinking
- Understanding revenue, costs and profit
- Protecting capital and reinvesting wisely
- Building customer trust through quality and honesty
- Improving advertising, packaging and risk management
Supported by the Ford Foundation through CIRDDOC Nigeria, with JRI Benue State and CYDI Nigeria serving as State Implementing Partners in Benue and Imo States respectively, this initiative is a concrete expression of CYDI’s ongoing project to prevent Conflict-Related Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and to promote women’s inclusion in community decision-making platforms such as Community Town Unions and the Cabinet of Traditional Rulers.
It demonstrates what meaningful empowerment can look like: equipping women affected by violence with knowledge, confidence, livelihood skills and a plan to build greater economic independence, strengthen their families and take their place in the decisions that shape their communities.