Adol Okoro, Awka
The CEO of GCPS VIP Lounge, Amb. Johnny Metchie has taken opportunity of this year’s auspicious occasion of International Women’s Day celebration to mobilize and enlighten women to stand up to the task of accelerating action for greater women involvement and empowerment in all spheres of life.
The United Nation’s mobilized women on the occasion of International Women’s Day last year with the theme “Invest in women: Accelerate progress”; but assessing performance and milestones achieved on the last year’s mobilization efforts show that very little was achieved especially among rural women, who were hardly carried along in various programmes and projects.
It is as a result that GCUPS, Inspiring Women Initiative (IWI) partnered Women Initiative Global (WIG) to make a positive difference in the lives of rural women by empowering them with quality information for better livelihood. The event, which took place at Umueri Recreation Club on 2025 International Women’s Day (IWD), was designed to meet the objectives of this year’s IWD theme, which is “Accelerate Action.”
The Umueri outing, which was hosted by Chief (Mrs.) Linda John Metchie was a huge success, as it featured a large number of rural women, including farmers, traders, artisans and others. The women showed rare interest as they crowded the venue from different quarters, towns and LGAs around Umueri, Anambra State to participate in the programme.
In his speech, the sponsor of the event, Amb. Johnny Metchie seized the opportunity of the occasion of IWD 2025 to extol the virtues of Her Excellency Dr. Mrs. Nonye Soludo, especially for her Healthy Living Initiatives for Anambra women.
Metchie went on to commend the women for the massive turn up at the event, stating that the women’s drive to participate showed their commitment to learning, empowerment and community growth.
“Your presence made this event even more meaningful,” he said.
Dr. Obi, who made very impactful and insightful presentation on cervical cancer, blood pressure and their management exposed symptoms and signs to watch out for, as early detection is key to better management, said the medical practitioner.
On the other hand, the women were also enlightened on insurance, financial planning and other empowering information that would boost their knowledge for improved livelihood and survival.
An expert in economic planning, Mrs. Chinasa was quite on point when she took the stage to enlighten the women on insurance, investments, property and general planning of their lives. By so doing the women were equipped on how to successfully manage their homes as mothers and wives and as well engage in genuine businesses to support their families.
It was impressive to see the representatives of Leadway Assurance and Wema Bank, who were also on ground and made interesting and motivational presentations that could be best described as invaluable and insightful in the areas of importance of insurance, suitable schemes for rural women and encouraging financial management.
The Women Initiative Global (WIG) and Inspiring Women Initiative (IWI) have by this partnership with GCUPS, and working with Chief Ngozi Okoye, demonstrated selfless efforts towards improving livelihood among women, especially, in rural areas.
Feelers among the women participants showed that they were empowered with adequate information to transform their lives for the better; a fulfilment of the drive behind this year’s IWD to accelerate progress in various aspects of the lives of the women.
This will support the push for gender equality, improvement in the health of women and also address the challenges of poverty. In other words, the women appreciated the organizers for the impactful event and supportive initiatives to uplift and empower rural women, especially.
The GCUPS CEO concluded his speech by expressing deepest appreciation to Chief (Mrs.) Linda John Metchie “whose selflessness, dedication, and hard work brought this program to life, alongside an incredible team of organizers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes.”
