Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN), a leading player in the food and agro-allied sector, a processor of superior quality products, and the owner of the iconic brand ‘Golden Penny’ drives gender equality and transformation through its Women Network and Girls in Action initiative. In commemoration of the 2022 International Day of Girl Child, the Network, under the Girls in Action program visited girls at the Apapa Senior Secondary School and impactfully activated a growth mindset shift through education, advocacy, empowerment, and other meaningful conversations and activities.

Girls in Action is an FMN Women Network (FMNWN) initiative geared toward the education, enlightenment, and human capacity development of the girl child. The Girls in Action project is a strategic and direct response to the ever-widening gap of gender inequality in Nigeria and across the world. The program seeks to provide girls with the required education, information, skills, and some pragmatic assistance for their various needs at different phases in their lives. 

This mandate aligns with the 2022 theme for the International Day of the Girl Child ‘Our time is now—our rights, our future e’ a practice and progressive campaign designed to address various challenges faced by girls in our today’s world and to promote girls’ empowerment and rights protection. 

The programme took off at the Apapa senior secondary school, Lagos, and was driven by key spokespersons and impact lead for the Network. Over 200 girls from the school experienced a new level of education, and gender-specific narratives designed to keep them informed, confident and focused as they surmount various barriers to the attainment of their dreams. The team also gave out Golden Penny food products and free packs of reusable sanitary pads with in-person training and education on how to care for the pads. This proactivity will go a long way towards curbing unsafe and unsanitary menstrual practices and saving parents the additional costs made in the monthly purchase of sanitary towels. 

L- R: Lead, Strategic Planning, and Implementation, FMN Women Network, Grace Beredugo; the Director/ Vice Principal, Apapa Senior Secondary School, Mr. Opara Ugwuanya Joseph; Health prefect, Apapa Senior Secondary School, Damisa Christianah; the Chairperson, FMN Women Network, Olasubomi Sofowora; Senior Girl, Apapa Senior Secondary School, David Ruth; Secretary, FMN Women Network, Kehinde F. Akanni, Assistant Senior Girl, Aremu Fatimoh; and the Assistant Chief Education officer, and school counselor, Mrs. Wusu Victoria at the Apapa Senior Secondary School, Lagos in Commemoration of the International Day for the Girl Child.

Speaking on the idea behind the Girls in Action Initiative, Olasubomi Sofowora, the Chairperson, of FMN Women Network noted “Girls around the world continue to face unprecedented challenges to education, physical and mental wellness and the advent of covid-19 has worsened these existing burdens. However, when girls are inspired, given the right opportunities, and supported to realize their human rights, they can reach their potential and create a better world for themselves, their communities, and the world at large. If we educate a girl, we break trans generational cycle of illiteracy and poverty and this is the key goal “of sustainability – with the future in mind. Therefore, to ensure that the girl children are well-oriented and prepared on how to respond to these environmental changes, the FMNWN created the Girl in Action initiative. Through the project, we are looking at establishing a certain level of paradigm shift amongst young girls to build the needed resilience, confidence, and courage to confront challenges as they arise.

Also commenting on the expected impact of the Girls in Action Initiative, Grace Beredugo, the Lead, Strategic Planning and Implementation, FMN Women Network said “According to the WFP Gender Policy and Strategy report, Gender inequality is a major cause and effect of hunger and poverty in the world. As a matter of fact, it is estimated that 60 percent of chronically hungry people are women and girls, thus FMN Plc, through the Women Network is directly addressing this gender parity gap to ensure that women are meaningfully contributing to the growth of the economy. More so, our strategy of directly transforming the lives of these young girls and by ensuring that we have a one-on-one encounter with them allowed for direct and indirect mentorship as we are now well-positioned to meet the girls at their various points of needs”.

The FMN Women Network over the years has been driving sustainable growth and changes in Nigeria to ensure that the SDG goal of attaining Gender Equality in the nearest future is actualized.

About Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc

Incorporated in September 1960 and quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange since 1978, Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) Plc, owners of the iconic Golden Penny Food brand is one of Nigeria’s leading food and agro-allied companies. With a broad basket of food products and robust pan-Nigerian production, distribution, and supply chain network, FMN is a fully integrated and diversified food and agro-allied group. 

FMN group strives in its purpose to “Feed the Nation, Everyday” through its five core food value chains: Grains, Sweeteners, Oils and Fats, Proteins, and Starches. FMN creates value along the entire food chain with its “farm-to-table” model by providing inputs and know-how to farmers, aggregating and sourcing crops and raw materials to supply its world-class processing facilities across Nigeria, and distributing its innovative food brands to its customers. 

More information can be found at www.fmnplc.com 

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