Capacity building for gender equality and women empowerment among muslim women organizations in Ondo State

Abstract

This paper attempts to find out some initiatives of Muslim Women Associations of Nigeria and assesses their effects in making life worth living for the downtrodden Muslim women in Ondo State. The study therefore focuses 00 the Federation of Muslim Women Associations of Nigeria (FOMWAN) in Ondo State. The study adopts descriptive survey as it is designed to employ qualitative approaches in data collection. Thus, the survey consists of data collection from six thousand members of FOMWAN by interviewing or contacting a representative sample of one hundred and twenty of them to determine the effects of their initiatives in tackling and reducing poverty among themselves. Findings revealed that, capacity building has succeeded in promoting gender equality and women empowerment by equipping Muslim women with the required knowledge, skills, training and opportunity to access information for their meaningful contributions to effect positive change in their socio-economic status in Ondo State. Based on the findings, the study recommends among others, that if FOMWAN in Ondo is rnore empowered and mobilized by donor and government agencies, her efforts in enhancing capacity building will go a long way in fighting the scourge of poverty among women.