Sapphire Initiative for Girl-Child Literacy and Empowerment is a non-profit, Non Governmental Organisation registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission on the 14 th December, 2015, (RC CAC/IT/83308). We work in the 19 northern states of Nigeria on emancipating the Girl-child from the shackles of depravation and torment of early marriage and also give hope to the women who have for long been relegated to the background in terms of contributing the growth of the nation. The organisation works on the SDG goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 16 which are critical to the dignity of the female gender to withstand the challenges facing the community and nation as a whole.

The Objectives of the organisation are:
– To promote girl child education

– To empower teenagers and young person’s to embrace hardwork.

– To develop virtues of hard work and good character in teenagers and young
persons.

– To engage teenagers and young persons in life changing programs and capacity building and skills acquisition.

– To fight against human trafficking and child molestation.

– To provide shelter and support to destitute children and young persons.

– To address issues concerning girl-child education and girl-child marriage and to reduce all forms of violence against women and youth.

The initiative stemmed out of the innate desire of the founder to address the misnomer she experienced in her sojourn while representing her people in politics. It is an established fact that exploitation, slavery, poverty and deprivation are synonymous with the fate of many girls and women, in many communities due to lack of quality education and a provision for solid socio-economic support.

In Nigeria, and many other African countries, women and girls have been badly discriminated and relegated as second class citizens due to customs and traditional practices. In most parts of the continent, particularly in Northern Nigeria, girls are deprived of their fundamental rights to basic education, while women are hardly given the opportunity to actively participate in opinion polls, public decision making and the socio-economic development of their immediate environments.

In the Northern part of Nigeria, girls are deliberately withdrawn from schools and forced to get married, hence denying them the opportunity to receive adequate training. Most girls and children are groomed as housewives and home keepers who have little or nothing to contribute to the development of their society. While millions of physically challenged persons have also received little or no attention in addressing their social and economic exclusion in many instances; it is equally important to note that the neglect against women and the physically challenged persons, socially and economically, have high negative impacts on the economic development of rural communities; vis-a-vis reflecting on the development indices of the nation.

On the premise of the above existing problems, the Sapphire Initiative for Girl Child Literacy and Empowerment (SIGCLE) considers it appropriate, with passionate commitment to assume responsibility for championing this cause, partnering with relevant institutions and agencies, towards proffering a lasting solution to the affected individuals, families and communities.

TARGET
 Girls affected by domestic violence, sexual abuse, unwanted pregnancies,
labour, trafficking, crisis and conflict situations;

 Street and Out-of –School girls;

 Women affected by gender and policy discrimination, economic hardship, sexual abuse, drugs, trafficking and conflict situations;

 Girls and women affected by unhealthy cultural practices, unfavourable
traditional beliefs and health challenges;

 Physically challenged persons;

 The underemployed and unemployed rural dwellers;

PROGRAMME STRATEGIES
 Training workshops

 Awareness creation and sensitization campaigns

 Symposium

 Advocacy, Media and Publicity

 Establishment of rehabilitation centres

 Research and feasibility studies to identify root causes and entry point for
remedial action

 Liaising with private sector and relevant institutions in providing start-up capitals
for trainees

 Source for funding support from local and international donor agencies

 Organise for skills acquisition, entrepreneurial training and empowerment

 Collaboration with states, local governments and local community leaders

 Provide counselling services to parents/guardians

 Participate in project monitoring and evaluation.

THEMATIC AREAS
1. Education and literacy

2. Poverty eradication (Economic empowerment)

3. Health and nutrition

4. Equality and gender equity

PROGRAMME AREAS
1. Education & literacy for the Girl-Child

2. Sapphire Economic empowerment programme3. Health & nutrition for the rural communities

3. Women inclusion in politics

 VISION
We envision the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups (girl-child, women and people living with disabilities) in Nigeria are self reliant, independent, well informed, healthy, educated and exercising their rights; socially and economically contributing to their community.

MISSION
To advocate and provide for the vulnerable who are affected by social and economic factors (disability, early marriage, violence) acquire basic necessities of life (education, health care services and economic empowerment) for socio-economic growth in their
communities.

GOAL
SIGCLE will ensure a conducive and just environment for the girl-child, women and
persons with disability to access education, empowerment and attain their full potential by initiating legislation and enforcement of conventions and agreements towards socio- economic growth in communities of Nigeria.

CORE VALUES
 Respect for humanity – the organisation is committed to upholding and regarding
the respect for humanity in its engagements and relationship with the
beneficiaries.

 Visionary – we are visionary in our approach to issues so that we can better
approach issues in the context it should be.

 Integrity – the hallmark of our relationship with the communities and partners is to bring best practices devoid of any encumbrances applying highest standards.

 Voluntarism – the concept is to give all a chance to contribute to the growth of
the nation without any hindrance.

 Unity – it is the value that keeps us together irrespective of creed, religion, race or status for us to succeed in our mission

 Sincerity – As development workers discharged with trust of managing projects for the vulnerable, we commit to doing so with all diligence and in line with set agreements

 Courage – We shall present facts as they are and speak for the voiceless in
whatever situation reporting adequately cases of injustice and immorality.