Gaming board donates 1000 sewing machines to help women

The National Highlands

MORE women in Eastern Highlands will now be able to learn to sew following the presentation of 1000 sewing machines by the National Gaming Control Board (NGCB).
Speaking at the presentation in Port Moresby on Monday, Governor Peter Numu said he wrote to the gaming board for sewing machines to help the women of his province.
“There is a greater need to empower women economically so that their potential will be enhanced and they can be self-reliant and improve their quality of life,” Numu said.
The upskilling of women with basic sewing skills training will give them a sustainable means of making money and will address other cross-cutting issues such as healthy living and good governance.
Gaming board CEO Imelda Agon commended Numu for the initiative and said that the board’s give-back programmme, “benefits the country as a whole.”
“Investment in women, like (former United Nations secretray-general) Kofi Annan said, is one of the greatest investments because when you invest in women you will see that not only does the household benefit, but the tribe benefits as well” Agon said.
She said that such programmes promote self-sustainability and contribute to the development of small to medium-sized enterprises. The new women empowerment project office under the governor’s office is focusing on enhancing women’s potential from the private sector down to the community level, with the emphasis on upskilling women in rural areas.
Women have been encouraged to register associations and have resource centre’s to facilitate training programmes.
This will give equal opportunities for women in rural and urban areas to receive help directly from the government.
Numu told the gaming board that the donation worth over K300,000 would help the people of Eastern Highlands improve that standard of living.
The training will run for three months under the Sewing Development Programme for women in EHP, a partnership initiative between the Eastern Highlands government and Farmers Hardware Limited.