Julia Taft Refugee Fund Empowers Refugees In Cross River

<p><em>Julia Taft Refugee Fund completes projects in Calabar<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> has been told that the U&period;S&period; Mission in Nigeria announces the successful completion of two projects under the 2020 Julia Taft Refugee Fund&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The projects were implemented in Cross River State by two local non-governmental organizations&comma; Mediatrix Development Foundation &lpar;MDF&rpar; and Gender and Development Action &lpar;GADA&rpar;&comma; with the aim of providing technical skills to Cameroonian refugees&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The two organizations received a total of NGN 9&comma;500&comma;000 to run the programs in Calabar Municipal&comma; Calabar South&comma; and Akamkpa Local Government Areas &lpar;LGAs&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>MDF conducted entrepreneurship and business vocational training to achieve self-reliance and economic sustainability in the refugee resettlements&period; They successfully trained 50 refugees and host community members in agriculture&comma; cosmetology&comma; craft production&comma; and tailoring in Akamkpa LGA&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>GADA provided 50 women refugees in Calabar Municipal and Calabar South LGAs with vocational training in marketing and sales&comma; book- keeping&comma; simple accounting&comma; and other effective problem-solving skills&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>U&period;S&period; Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard noted&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;it is never easy to leave one’s country of origin&period; These <strong>Julia<&sol;strong> Taft Refugee Fund projects promoted inclusion and a sense of welcome within communities to ensure the newly relocated families received skills and a path forward for self-sustainability&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Beneficiary Ntui Favour Eyang lived in a village in Cameroon where she owned a kiosk&period; However&comma; life changed in 2017 when war reached her village&comma; forcing her to flee to Nigeria with her son&period; Following the training&comma; she intends to use what she learned in the program as a template for success in her new business in Nigeria&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Assu Manyi Agbor&comma; another beneficiary&comma; said&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I have not just received a certificate and cash assistance for a business startup but have gained skills to plant and grow melons and vegetables and to raise chickens&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Julia Taft Refugee Fund is an initiative of the U&period;S&period; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;thesun&period;co&period;uk&sol;sport&sol;football&sol;">Department<&sol;a> of State’s Bureau of Population&comma; Refugees&comma; and Migration &lpar;PRM&rpar; to address important gaps in refugee protection and assistance&semi; gaps not addressed by larger multilateral refugee programs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;