EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Proposal for a 2-Month Vocational, Skill-Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Training and Empowerment Program for the Disabled and Abandoned Youths of Abia State, Nigeria.

The major objective of the workshop is to provide for the unemployed disabled youths of Abia State vocational, skill acquisition and entrepreneurship training and empowerment program and develop in them values that would make them profitably engage their time, energy and intellectuality in productive ventures in order to totally eliminate or reduce to the barest minimum violence or crime believed to be a result of involuntary inactivity.

The trainings to be covered include the following: 

Theory-based Courses

i. Introduction to Entrepreneurship 

ii. Principles of Management 

iii. Fundamentals of Marketing 

iv. Business Communication, Ethics & Socio Responsibility 

v. Business Finance and Accounting 

Practical-based Skills

i. Product Sourcing, Processing, Packaging and Marketing/Export.

ii.  Computer Procurement, Installation, Operation, and Maintenance. 

iii.  GSM Operation, Repair & Recharge Card Printing. 

iv.  Catering and Home Management

v.  Cosmetology 

vi.  Shop Management 

vii.  Tailoring 

viii.  Poultry

ix.  Fish Farming

x.  Salon Operation (Barbing & Hair Styling).

The training program will take place at the head-quarters of each LGA of Abia State concurrently. It is a 2 –month program expected to last for 40 days (5 days in a week). The program will run for two sessions – morning session (10am-12noon, theory-based courses) and afternoon session (2pm – 5pm, practical-based skills). The expected cost of the training program is estimated at Seventy-Five million, Eight hundred and Sixty Seven thousand Naira (N75,867,000:00) only.

The Honourable Commissioner,  Ministry of Youths and Social Development, Abia State, Nigeria.

Dear Sir/Madam,

PROPOSAL: VOCATIONAL,SKILL-ACQUISITION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING AND EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME FOR THE DISABLED AND ABANDONED YOUTHS IN ABIA STATE OF NIGERIA

1.0 Introduction

According to the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), persons with disabilities have equal rights to work and gain a living. Countries are to prohibit discrimination in job-related matters, promote self- employment, entrepreneurship and starting one’s own business, employ persons with disabilities in public sector, promote their employment in the private sector, and ensure that they are provided with reasonable accommodation at work (Article 27).

Further reference to the UN Convention states: “States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others; this includes the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities. “ State Parties shall safeguard and promote the realization of the right to work, including for those who acquire a disability during the course of employment, by taking appropriate steps, including through legislation. “States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities are not held in slavery or in servitude, and are protected, on equal basis with others, from forced or compulsory labour.”

People with disabilities are highly over-represented among the poor; about 82 per cent of them live below the poverty line. Poverty is considered both a cause and a consequence of disability. Poverty is a cause of disability since the poor often lack resources to prevent malnutrition, and do not have access to adequate health services that may prevent some disabilities. Poverty is a consequence of disability since people with disabilities often lack access to education, health services and income-generating activities; they are often denied their human, social and economic rights. Those factors contribute to high levels of vulnerability and exclusion.

Employment is often seen as an important step towards the rehabilitation and empowerment of a person with disability, because it provided a sense of belonging, importance and independence. However, person with disabilities often face many barriers when seeking employment and this is particularly so in Nigeria, as in other developing countries. Despite government pledges to ensure opportunities for people with disabilities in Nigeria, studies, reports and experiences suggest that numerous barriers (e.g. discrimination, lack of education, lack of vocational training and employable skills, employer’s attitudes and perceptions, lack of access to self-employment opportunities, lack of support, mobility issues) continue to block their rights to employment or self-employment.

Although, the actual number of people with disabilities is not known. The Government and Non-Government (NGO) services in Nigeria are inadequate, and little is being done to support persons with disabilities to secure a job or establish a business. Unequal access to the job market has been reflected in various studies, indicating that many people become unemployed as a direct result of their disability, and are further disadvantaged in consequence. Though in Nigeria, the case is different, as even the physically-abled persons find it very difficult getting a job due to lack of employment. 

However, physical disability in particular has been cited as a stronger barrier to re (entering) employment where job opportunities prevail, or to establish a business in Nigeria, and negative stereotypes play a significant role.

With disability and poverty as both the cause and consequence of each other, little improvement will be seen until there are effective moves to break the vicious cycle. There is therefore the need to invest in training as training is not expenses but investment. This is because investing in Human Capital (Disabled or not) facilitates every business interest, leading to both individual, organizational and nutritional growth and development, subsequently contributing to the realization of the United Nation’s Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).

We seek partnership with other NGOs and Government across the board to ensure that viable options are considered and applied in providing acceptable standard of support to persons who are most in need. We are a full service agency committed to research to identify causes of social problems and seek appropriate solutions to eradicate such challenges across social, religious, and political backgrounds.

2.0 Objectives of the Study

The following objectives are expected to be achieved by the training:

1. To develop in the unemployed disabled youth of Abia State values that would make them profitably engage their time in productive ventures in order to totally eliminate or reduce to a barest  minimum violence or crime believed to be a result of involuntary inactivity.
2. To develop and empower the unemployed disabled  youths to improve on their overall economic standing.
3. To develop and empower the unemployed disabled  youths not only to earn a livelihood but, to enjoy social contacts and  gain self esteem.
4. To provide the unemployed disabled youths with different skills acquisition programs with great prospects and high patronage for them to select from, based on their interest, level of assimilation, and finance at their disposal.
5. To expose the unemployed disabled youths the  available sources of fund and methods and processes in sourcing the  available funds outside the conventional sources, for the establishment of their businesses.
6. To provide information to the unemployed disabled  youths on various business opportunities outside practical skill acquisition that are in high demand, profitable and less expensive in start-up capital, both within and outside Nigeria.
7. To expose the participants to the available market for their products, both within and outside Nigeria.
8. To link participants to vocational, skill-acquisition and entrepreneurship training centers or institutions for up- to-date knowledge and skills in conformity with international best standards and practices required for the general growth and development of the unemployed disabled Abia State youth.

3.0 Program Design and Methodology

A. Course Duration

This is a 2 – month intensive training program, which will take the form of theoretical and practical sessions, by carefully selected experts and resource persons that are already tried, tested and very well known in the area of business in general and vocational and entrepreneurial education in particular. 

B. Participants

Overall, 850 persons with disabilities, 50 each from the 17 LGAs of Abia State will participate in this training. The physical disabilities of the participants will include; impairments resulting from variety of physiological conditions, cosmetic disfigurements, spinal cord dysfunctions, musculoskeletal losses, sensory impairments, and various types of chronic diseases. These disabilities may have occurred at different times in the participants’ lives (e.g. accident, injury, disease or congenital). All participants will be unemployed at the time of joining the training program.

C. Training Centers, Equipments and Personel

The training centers for this program will be situated at the headquarters of each LGA in Abia State. This is to enable for proximity and convenience for the participants, considering the fact that some LGAs where the participants may come from may not be as easily accessible to Umuahia, the State Capital, as the other LGAs may be. This implies that, there would be 17 training centers, 17 resource persons/experts for the theory-based courses (1 for each LGA), 170 resource persons/experts for the practical-based courses (10 for each LGA, implying 1 resource person/expert for each of the 10 available skills) and one operational vehicle for effective logistics and coordination.

D. Program Pattern

Students are to come from their different places of abode. There will be two sessions, vis: morning session, which would last for only 2 hours (10am -12noon) and evening session which would last for only 3 hours (2pm – 5pm) with 2 hours break time (12noon – 2pm). The morning session will be theory-based (entrepreneurship knowledge), while the evening session will be practical-based (skill-acquisition). The training will go as in the table below.

The Theory-based courses will be attended by all the participants, but they will be expected to select the skill of their choice from the available practical-based courses.